LATEST Feb. 9, 5:30 p.m. After her inclusion in the latest Jeffrey Epstein file dump prompted a wave of attention last week, San Francisco venture capitalist Masha Bucher told her side of the story on Monday.
In a post to X, Bucher said she connected with Epstein during a time she was terrified of being targeted by the Russian government, which she’d disavowed after previously leading a pro-Kremlin youth group. “He made me feel I could be safe from the regime,” she wrote of Epstein, “someone with power and connections who could shield me from those threats.”
Calling herself “naive” when she first met Epstein in 2017, she said she believed him when he told her his 2008 conviction for soliciting sex with a minor stemmed from the girl lying about her age. “I regret that deeply,” Bucher wrote.
Bucher wrote that she never visited his St. Thomas island and wasn’t paid for introducing him to journalists. Files reported below show that Epstein said he’d send her money and did at one point provide her a $7,000 check.
“I leaned on his reassurances and trusted those around him,” Bucher wrote. “I now see clearly how profoundly dark and evil he was – a master manipulator who preyed on vulnerability with chilling precision. I have since connected with some of his victims and learned a similar pattern of taking in women who felt they had nowhere else to go, making them feel safe, and then threatening to take away that safety in exchange for submitting to his demands.”
She continued, “To my founders, team, and investors: I’m truly sorry. This has caused pain I never intended.” Later in the post, she added, “F-k Epstein.”
Feb. 9, 2:20 p.m. In between leading a Russian nationalist youth group and becoming a San Francisco venture capitalist who manages millions, Masha Bucher found her way to Jeffrey Epstein.
New releases from the Epstein files show that Bucher helped the convicted sex offender with publicity and networking in a tight relationship that blended the professional and the shockingly intimate.
Bucher and Epstein’s correspondences span from mid-2017 until shortly before his 2019 arrest on sex trafficking charges. Early on, she gave him advice about how to use social media and arranged meetings between him and journalists from the likes of Forbes, Business Insider, Futurism and Nature. Their relationship deepened over time, as Bucher repeatedly met with Epstein in person and heaped him with compliments. In return, per the files, he gave her money and a Prada bag, and on one occasion, he asked her for nude photos.
Bucher, who used to to go by the surname Drokova, did not respond to SFGATE’s requests for comment for this story. In 2021, she downplayed her relationship with Epstein to the investigative reporter Seth Hettena. She reportedly told Hettena that when she originally met Epstein, “I quickly find out I shouldn’t be connected with this person. I didn’t do much research in the beginning, which I very much regret.”
“I met him, and he asked me, ‘I need connections with the media,'” she reportedly added. “I introduced him to some people. I dig deeper. Oh f-k, it’s a very bad story.”
Bucher is known now for her San Francisco firm Day One Ventures, which touts investments in startups including You, Symbolica and World, which was co-founded by Sam Altman. (SFGATE covered World’s Orb technology in Union Square last November.) Bloomberg reported in 2024 that Day One had closed its biggest fund yet, a $150 million chest.
Bucher’s statements to Hettena are tested by the new Epstein files, which were released on Jan. 30. They show she kept up a close dynamic with the financier even through his public disgrace in November 2018. Their entire relationship unfolded years after the financier’s 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a child.
The association kicked off after an Epstein contact described Bucher as a “wonder lady,” in a May 2017 email to Epstein, saying Bucher would be “delighted” to speak with him. Two weeks later, Bucher and Epstein were going back and forth about her advice for his public image; she listed various ideas, and he considered what photos people would like to see of him. She dubbed him an “expert in women” and suggested he be seen supporting Malala Yousafzai and Emma Watson.
Soon after meeting, the two began to cross typical work-life boundaries. That August, he told an assistant to pick out a Prada bag – they responded, “Tote for $1790?” – and send it to Bucher as a surprise. In September, he said he’d send her $25,000 and told her to give some to the journalist she’d set him up for an interview with. An October email from Epstein reads simply, “your roommate was fun.” Bucher responded: “she is amazing. I saw your [photo] together. a little jealous.”
When Bucher asked what book Epstein would recommend she read, he answered simply with “Lolita,” the famous 1955 novel about a professor’s pedophilia.
In the second half of 2017, Bucher referred a personal assistant to Epstein, offered to help him get a woman a visa and kept up the publicity work, arranging interviews with reporters and connecting him with Silicon Valley types.
A check paid to Masha Bucher for $7,027.48, in late 2017. (U.S. Department of Justice)
It was also in 2017 that Bucher began seeking business advice from Epstein and his network.  She’d already been raising millions of dollars for a new venture capital fund but hadn’t yet gone public. When he asked what she’d like for her birthday, that October, she said, “teach me how to close my fund.”
When Bucher got Day One off the ground in early 2018, she sent Epstein a link about the launch and wrote “New American dream.” In emails that March, she told him that he had “started a revolution to the better in me” and called him an “amazing friend.” She signed one, “Your female Warren Buffet.”
They continued their correspondence after her fund’s launch, emailing, speaking on Skype and meeting in person. Bucher kept connecting Epstein with researchers and raved to him about attending Burning Man in September 2018. In one email, she mentioned partying with “Joscha” – presumably the AI researcher Joscha Bach whose research and living expenses Epstein funded – and Epstein responded asking if she’d taken ayahuasca, a psychedelic.
In November 2018, the Miami Herald released a bombshell story showing how Epstein dodged accountability for dozens of credible accusations of sexual abuse. Bucher was in his inbox two days after the story landed, singing his praises.
“Hope you don’t care about the press!” wrote Bucher, who at that point used the last name Drokova. “I’m with you, admire you, proud to know you! call me anytime if there’s anything I can do… I’ve got an idea about your publicity. I’ll share it next time we meet.”
A month later, Bucher set up a call between Epstein and another of her friends. After the video call, Epstein updated Bucher: “Your friend alleza told me about the project she is doing researching a really bad guy that gets chldren for sex sent to his island. . she almost fainted when i told her that person is me.”
Still, the relationship continued. In June 2019, the two were messaging on Skype when Epstein asked Bucher for nude photos. She rebuffed him with, “Next time I’m in Paris!” He was arrested less than two weeks later.
Work at a Bay Area tech company and want to talk? Contact tech reporter Stephen Council securely at stephen.council@sfgate.com or on Signal at 628-204-5452.
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This article originally published at Epstein files prompt apology from San Francisco tech investor.