Ricardo Salinas Pliego, the leader of Grupo Salinas, expressed on social media that he prefers to be associated with the convicted pedophile businessman Jeffrey Epstein rather than with former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. "No, I was not friends with Epstein; yes, we coincided at the same dinner once, but that's all," Salinas Pliego said on his X account. According to Salinas Pliego, the reason for the dinner was a meeting of the Edge organization, led by John Brockman, which is dedicated to publishing works of prominent scientific thinkers. Documents released in the Epstein case show that Edge dinners took place at least until 2018, a decade after the businessman pleaded guilty to state charges for soliciting prostitution from a minor and a year before his death in a New York prison while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. In these documents, it is also mentioned that in 2011, Salinas Pliego received an invitation to a private dinner with Epstein in Long Beach, California. Despite Epstein facing lawsuits from his victims and numerous testimonies of abuse throughout the 2010s, Brockman continued to invite him to Edge dinners along with other prominent businessmen. According to The Guardian, these dinners allowed Epstein to maintain his presence in the most exclusive technology circles until 2018.
