Jeffrey Epstein was on a mission to meet with Vladimir Putin when an intriguing proposal dropped into his email.

The Russian president was ready to receive Epstein, according to an October 2014 message from a correspondent on a database of more than 3.5 million files belonging to the late convicted sex offender that have roiled global politics and business.

“I spoke t= Putin,” wrote the interlocutor, whose identity has been redacted by the US Department of Justice. “He would be very glad if you were to visit and explain=financial markets in the 21 st century. Digital currency. derivative= structured finance. I would set up the meeting when you are next in=Europe. I am sure you two will like each other.”

Hours later, Epstein forwarded the message with a request for advice to Kathy Ruemmler, who’s stepping down as Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s general counsel after details of her association with the disgraced financier emerged in the files released by the Justice Department.

In his response, Epstein anticipated that her advice would be not to go “for the moment” and that was in fact the case. Ruemmler’s reply was brief: “Yes my answer is still the same,” she wrote. “Your fun i= denied.”

The caution at that point was understandable. Months earlier, Putin had sent Russian troops to annex Crimea from Ukraine, prompting wide-ranging US and European Union sanctions and sparking the geopolitical crisis that has since spiraled into the largest conflict in Europe since World War II.

Epstein’s fascination with Putin and Russia was undimmed, though, even as the documents paint a picture of a man who appeared largely clueless about who had genuine power and influence with the Kremlin leader. The files show a years-long effort to secure a one-on-one meeting with Putin, whose name appears about 1,000 times in the database.

The emails are quoted here as they appear in the DOJ release, including spelling and grammatical errors.

Ultimately, it seems, his quest was unsuccessful. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin never met Epstein as far as he’s aware, and no evidence has emerged so far to show that they did.

Earlier that year, in January, Epstein pitched former Norwegian Prime Minister Thorbjorn Jagland as the politician apparently prepared to meet with Putin in Sochi. The Russian Black Sea resort was shortly to host the 2014 Winter Olympics, the most expensive in history as Putin lavished $50 billion to present the games as a showcase of his country’s post-Soviet restoration.

Sport wasn’t on Epstein’s mind. “you can explain to putin , that there should be a sopshiticated russian version of bitcoin,” he wrote. “it would be the most advanced financial instrument availbale on a global basis.”

Jagland was among the most prominent European politicians at the time as secretary general of the Council of Europe for a decade between October 2009 and September 2019. Jagland met Putin on May 20, 2013, according to the Kremlin’s website, and returned to Sochi in 2014 for the opening of the Olympics.

On May 8, 2013, Epstein asked Jagland to secure him an audience with the Russian leader. “I know you are going to meet putin on the 20th, He is desperate to engage western investment in his country,” the financier wrote. “I have his solution. He needs to securitize russian investment, that means the govt takes the first loss.”

Epstein went on: “I recoginize that there are human rights issues that are at the forefront of your trip howver, if it is helpful to you, I would be happy to meet with him sometime in June and explain the solution to his top prioirty, I think this would be good for your goals. exchange somehting he really wants. for someting you want.”

In a further exchange a few days later, Jagland told Epstein “all this is not easy for me to explain to Putin. You have to do it. My job is to get a meeting with him.”

Epstein replied that Putin “is in a unique position to do something grand, like sputnik did for the space race.” He added: “I would be happy to meet with him , but for a minimum of two to three hours, not shorter.”

Apparently, a counter-offer came from Moscow that failed to enthuse Epstein. On May 21, he claimed in a message to former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak that Putin had proposed a meeting during the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum the following month.

“I told him no,” Epstein wrote to Barak. “If he wants to meet he will need to set aside real time and privacy, lets see what happens.”

Days earlier, on May 9, referring to Putin, Epstein admitted to the Israeli politician that “I never met him.”

Two years later, in 2015, Barak wrote to thank Epstein for arranging his own participation at the St. Petersburg forum, where he said he held meetings with Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as well as the heads of the country’s two largest banks, Herman Gref of Sberbank and VTB Bank’s Andrey Kostin.

Thousands of Australians are still likely in the dark about losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in their retirement savings. Authorities are still waiting for victims to come forward after more than a $1 billion was quietly lost from superannuation funds of workers across the country.

Social media ads and aggressive sales tactics were used to lure in regular working Australians. That was the case for Queensland woman Claire* who was encouraged to move her superannuation into a new fund and ultimately lost $165,000 when she later learned it had disappeared.

Claire only realised something was wrong when she received a strange email from “equity trustees” which in the moment didn’t mean anything to her at all.

“I was just lucky that I clicked on it,” she told Yahoo Finance.

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Claire, who works in education, admits she isn’t a sophisticated investor. She paid almost no attention to her superannuation but came across an ad while “doomscrolling” Facebook that caught her eye.

“It was along the lines of nine out of 10 super funds are underperforming. Is your’s one of them?” she recalled. “It wasn’t dodgy looking.”

She clicked to find out if her super fund was on the list.

“To get the article you had to put your name and your phone number and your email in, or something like that.”

However when she did, she didn’t get an article. Instead she got a call from a business on the Gold Coast.

Claire was urged to send through her latest superannuation statement, which she did, and that’s when the “constant” calls started.

Despite her reservations and skepticisms – and repeatedly declining their overtures – the pushy tactics from financial advisors on the other end of the line eventually wore her down and she was convinced to move her superannuation from industry fund QSuper to a fund she couldn’t actually find anything about on Google, called NQ Super.

“They essentially had an answer for everything and made it sound safe as houses, and if I didn’t do this I’m an absolute idiot… They sort of played on my naivety and my lack of knowledge of the super system,” she said.

In her late 30s, Claire was promised much higher returns by the time she retired if she switched.

In a subsequent statement of advice put together by an advisory firm called Venture Egg, and seen by Yahoo Finance, she was told the money would be put into mostly standard investments such as the Betashares Nasdaq ETF and Vanguard ETF funds for Australian and international stocks – common, low risk products that track broad sections of the stock market.

Against her better judgement, she moved her fund over in 2023. But the following year she received a “random” significant event notice in her inbox about an investment fund she’d never heard of.

Claire eventually discovered she had actually been moved into something called the Shield Master Fund which had since collapsed.

Claire is one of about 12,000 Aussies who lost an estimated $1.1 billion when Shield and, later, the First Guardian Master Fund imploded.

“I could have easily just deleted that email – it wasn’t a familiar name to me – but I read it, and I think that’s what the problem is,” Claire said.

A majority of people in those two funds have still not made an official complaint with the appropriate financial ombudsman, with corporate regulator ASIC believing many are still unaware they have been impacted.

Do you have a story? Nick.whigham@yahooinc.com

ASIC sent out correspondence to victims earlier this month, but there are still more than 9,000 people who have not lodged their complaint to receive compensation.

Melinda Kee is another victim and has been working with ASIC as well as the federal government as it works through the ongoing fallout and looks to shore up rules to prevent similar disasters in the future. She runs a Facebook group for victims and has built a website for anyone affected to find vital information about the advisory groups involved.

“I stepped up because it came down to who else was going to? These people are distraught… I’ve had 65-year-old men crying,” she told Yahoo Finance.

She is desperate to reach the thousands of Aussies – some of whom she believes are overseas – who appear unaware that at least some of their retirement savings have been lost.

Melinda has a lot of experience is financial markets and used to be a day trader. She was looking to shift her superannuation savings after the fund she was in at the time had gone backwards by $28,000 over the previous year.

During a period she was off sick from work, she used iSelect to change a number of bills including, gas, electricity and health and pet insurance. It was shortly after that when she began receiving cold calls about switching her retirement savings as well.

“This wasn’t a case of investors chasing speculative returns outside the system. This happened within the regulated superannuation and financial advice framework, overseen by licensed professionals and trustees with legal fiduciary obligations,” she said.

If you moved your superannuation and think you might be impacted, you can check to see a list of trustees and super platforms that funnelled money into the collapsed funds, which might be more familiar to most victims, and for which deadlines for seeking compensation are fast approaching.

Some victims have only until March 31, 2026, to seek compensation.

While some early decisions have been made for a select number of victims who were moved into the collapsed funds, a vast majority, like Claire, are still waiting for their claim to be worked through.

Melinda is advocating for ‘Pay Now Recover Later’ as the government taps the broader superannuation sector to help fund compensation for victims.

“It is not about rewarding risk-taking, it’s about restoring confidence, fairness, and accountability in a system Australians are required by law to rely on for their retirement,” she said.

This week, ASIC launched a fresh review into the practice of using lead generators to lure in superannuation investors, with more than 40 groups called out.

Lead generation is the process of identifying someone as a potential sales target and may offer a free ‘super health check’ or offer to find your lost super. They are often paid “marketing fees” by licensed financial advisers.

Super Consumers Australia is calling for a ban on lead generation for super and financial advice, along with closing the loophole that allows cold calling to offer financial advice.

The group said predatory super switching schemes had been fuelled by lead generators who had been using social media to collect people’s contact details and sell them on to third parties.

“These schemes are highly effective, they prey on people who are just looking to do the right thing and get on top of their super,” Super Consumer Australia CEO Xavier O’Halloran said.

*Claire is a pseudonym to protect her identity

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Next month, after Citi files its 2025 year-end results, Luchetti will succeed longtime CFO Mark Mason, who will become executive vice chair and senior executive advisor to chair and CEO Jane Fraser. Mason plans to pursue leadership opportunities outside Citi by the end of 2026. His tenure at Citi also encompassed operational experience. According to people familiar with the matter, Mason’s long-term ambition is to become a CEO.

Luchetti has led U.S. Personal Banking since 2021 and joined Citi in 2006. At the recent 2026 Bank of America Securities Financial Services Conference, he discussed his career and global experience.

“I’ve worked in Latin America, in the U.S., in EMEA, in Asia Pacific,” said Luchetti, who described his background as Argentine American. “I lived for six years in Singapore, overseeing 18 markets in the retail bank and the broader consumer franchise. I saw digital develop in different countries and models and applied much of that in the last five years as head of U.S. Personal Banking.”

He has worked across businesses and functions, and at the local, regional, and global levels—starting in the private bank, then moving into wealth and the affluent franchise, and later overseeing the retail bank, unsecured credit cards, and secured mortgages.

“I think he is well equipped and armed to come in as our newly appointed CFO and continue the momentum,” Mason said on a media call last month. Citi (No. 21 on the Fortune 500) reported a profitable fourth quarter to close 2025.

Luchetti’s blend of operating experience, consulting, strategy, P&L leadership, and business‑unit CFO work reflects what many companies now look for in finance chiefs.

What boards want in CFOs now

The CFO role continues to evolve. Boards are seeking CFO candidates with demonstrated leadership beyond finance—particularly “operators” with enterprise-wide influence, according to Russell Reynolds Associates’ research.

Ten years ago, boards focused on controller backgrounds, deep accounting expertise, strong audit committee relationships, and FP&A rigor, Shawn Cole, president and founding partner of executive search firm Cowen Partners, recently told me. Now, he said, boards want CFOs who can lead technology transformation, manage geopolitical supply chain complexity, defend against activists, and navigate volatile capital markets—creating intense competition for a small pool of sitting CFOs with that modern skill set.

At the BofA conference, Luchetti highlighted mid-single digit growth in high-returning areas, like for Services and Wealth deposits and Cards and Wealth loans. Net interest income, excluding Markets, will be up 5%–6% in 2026. “We’ll talk about this at length at Investor Day,” Luchetti said. “Very clearly for us, the biggest objective this year is to deliver what we committed to, which is the 10% to 11% RoTCE [Return on Tangible Common Equity].”

His top priorities as he enters the role are twofold: “Number one, drive consistent, higher returns; and two, pursue excellence in execution.” He said it starts with durability: strong risk and control practices, a solid balance sheet, and ample liquidity, so performance is sustainable over time. In U.S. Personal Banking, that foundation helped Citi deliver 13 straight quarters of positive operating leverage and move returns from 5.5% RoTCE in 2024 to the mid‑teens in the back half of the year, Luchetti noted. 

As CFO, he said, he will focus on clear accountability and execution—doing what Citi says it will do, acting early on risks, and maintaining urgency—combined with a “beginner’s mindset” to keep pushing for higher, sustainable returns.

In elevating Luchetti, Citi is effectively betting that the next era of value creation will be led by operator-CFOs.

Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

Leaderboard

Brian Piper was named EVP and CFO of Sana Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ: SANA). Piper brings more than 25 years of experience. He was previously CFO of Scorpion Therapeutics until its acquisition by Eli Lilly in 2025, and thereafter served as CFO of Antares Therapeutics following its spin-off from Scorpion. Before that, he was CFO of Prelude Therapeutics, a publicly traded biotech company. Earlier in his career, he served as CFO of Aevi Genomic Medicine and spent 13 years at Shire Pharmaceuticals.

Vic Pierni was appointed CFO of Xsolis, a healthcare technology company. He brings more than 25 years of experience. Most recently, he served as CFO of Uniguest, a global digital technologies SaaS provider. Previously, he was CFO of Loftware, an enterprise supply chain SaaS company. Earlier in his career, Pierni held CFO and senior executive roles at Global Capacity and Verivo Software.

Big Deal

KPMG’s recently released Q4 2025 Credit Markets Update finds leveraged finance ended 2025 strongly, creating a borrower‑friendly start to 2026 but with clear medium‑term risks.​

New‑issue leveraged loan volume reached about $709 billion in 2025, up from roughly $661 billion in 2024, the second‑highest level since 2021, while high‑yield issuance rose about 16% to more than $330 billion, driven largely by refinancing and a more dovish stance by the Federal Reserve. Refinancing still accounted for 44% of activity, but new‑money LBO and M&A deals led overall volume as the long‑anticipated M&A rebound emerged.​

KPMG expects tight spreads, declining base rates, and an issuer‑friendly backdrop to keep capital costs low and support deal flow into early 2026, though data-dependent monetary policy means negative surprises in jobs or inflation could curb further easing. 

Going deeper

“Airbnb CEO says AI is ‘the best thing that ever happened to’ his company—he warns other founders: ‘If you don’t disrupt yourself, someone else will’” is a Fortune article by Emma Burleigh. 

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky says AI has been instrumental to the success of his $73.5 billion short-term rental company. Now, the billionaire founder is telling other business leaders that the tech isn’t just a plus, it’s a necessity. Read more here.

Overheard

“It’s the biggest transformation opportunity in retail. That was really appealing to me.”

—Hillary Super, CEO of Victoria’s Secret & Co., told Fortune in an interview. The company brought her on in fall 2024, after its various rebrands were widely dismissed and sales were falling. She had previously served as global CEO of Anthropologie and, more recently, as CEO of rival lingerie brand Savage X Fenty. When she joined Victoria’s Secret, Super said she was “keenly aware of what the perceptions of the brand were, positive and negative,” but was ready to take on a challenge.