VC Masha Bucher, Epstein’s partner and founder of Day One, explains herself

Masha Boucher, Silicon Valley venture capitalist and founder of Day One Ventures, I took to X this week to address news reports documenting her close business and personal relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Bucher’s name – under her maiden name Masha Drukova – appeared in Epstein’s latest files more than 1,600 times. The San Francisco Standard reported.

“It made me feel like I could be safe from the system, someone with power and connections that could protect me” from threats linked to her home country of Russia, which she said she feared after receiving her US green card, she wrote in the post.

“I was naive, and I didn’t dig deep enough early on,” she wrote about why she agreed to work with Epstein. “His story that his previous conviction was for sleeping with a girl who lied about her age was believed and received credible confirmation from numerous investors and scientists.” It also apologized to its founders, team and investors, saying the situation “caused pain that I never intended.”

The files paint a picture of how Boucher — who began his career in Silicon Valley in social media and public relations — agreed to become Epstein’s publicist in 2017, helping to rehabilitate his reputation after his 2008 sex trafficking conviction, and setting up meetings between him and several journalists. As reported by Forbes.

Documents show that Epstein supported and encouraged her in the early days of Day One Ventures. Since then the company has grown significantly – like Bosher TechCrunch saidIt closed its most recent fund, a third fund worth $150 million, in 2024, bringing its assets under management to $450 million.

Some of the more lavish details in the emails include Epstein giving her money and a Prada bag and, on one occasion, asking for nude photos of her – although there is no indication whether she complied – according to the British newspaper “Daily Mail”. SF portal. Bucher is certainly one of the Valley’s popular venture capital funds, having backed startups like Superhuman, Remote, Worldcoin, and Truebill (which I went out to the rocket companies In 2021), as well as others Atomic Valar.

The entire episode is particularly embarrassing for venture capitalists who… What speaks to the founders is that she is a public relations expert Which can help them improve their public image. But this is not the first time Bucher has faced controversy.

When he was younger, Bucher was known in Russia as a member of Nashi, a pro-Putin youth group. In fact, she appeared in a 2012 documentary called Putin’s Kiss — named after the moment that went viral in the country when she kissed Putin’s cheek — As reported by CNN.

In her X post, she said she had since given up her Russian passport, publicly denounced Putin, and met some of Epstein’s victims.

She’s certainly not the only venture capitalist whose name has been found in Epstein’s files, which is not surprising given how closely he is linked to Some of the biggest names in technology. The documents do not indicate that Boucher violated the laws. However, she was engaged in a friendly correspondence with Epstein until just 11 days before his arrest in July 2019, Forbes reported. Epstein died in prison about a month later.