Giants co-owner Steve Tisch plans to give up his ownership of the team — after facing enormous pressure over a series of damning emails with pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, sources told The Post Wednesday.
The move to transfer the family’s remaining stake in Big Blue into a trust will allow 77-year-old Tisch and siblings Laurie and Jonathan to pass their ownership to their kids — rather than face a possible revolt from fellow NFL owners.
The Tisches had already put most of their 45% ownership share into the trust, and only hold about 10% of the team directly, according to sources.
The move would leave the elder Tisch siblings with no direct ownership of the team if the NFL’s finance committee approved the move, which was first reported by ESPN.
The team is estimated to be the third most valuable team in the NFL — worth $10.3 billion, according to Forbes.
The Mara family, which founded the New York football Giants in 1925, owns a controlling stake in the franchise. The Koch family bought a 10% stake last year.
But Tisch’s influence over the team may not vanish with the move. The billionaire is expected to retain his seat as chairman of the Giants’ board and his siblings will still hold their seats as director and treasurer, Front Office Sports reported.
A team source said the Tisch family had long planned to transfer the remainder of its direct ownership around this time — despite the announcement coming days before the NFL owners meeting later this month.
Giants co-owner Steve Tisch (c.) with children Elizabeth (l.) and Zachary (r.) on March 16, 2023. FilmMagic
The Tisch family has co-owned the Giants since 1991, but trouble has been brewing since Steve’s name appeared at least 440 times in the Epstein files recently released by the Department of Justice.
He had several eyebrow-raising email exchanges with the disgraced financier in 2013, where they spoke lewdly of women’s bodies and reminisced about hanging out at Epstein’s home.
In one email Tisch even asked if a woman whom Epstein described as “exotic” and “tahitian” was a “working girl.”
Other exchanges references foreign women from Ukraine and Russia, while Epstein expressed caution about having their communications in writing.
“I just had lunch with your assistant’s friend Who I met at your house Wed morning,” Tisch emailed Epstein in spring 2013. “Very sweet girl. Do you know anything about her?”
“no, but i will ask ( all confidential ) I will get all info, did you contact the great ass fake t-ts shes a character, short term, has an older boyfriend going to acting school, a 10 ass,” Epstein responded within hours. “I am happy to have you as a new but obviosly [sic] shared interest friend.”
Tisch has maintained that he only discussed “adult women” with Epstein in their email exchanges. DOJ
In another thread with a subject line reading “Re: Ukrainian Girl,” Epstein asked Tisch, “do you want to know if she as sweet as she seems? boyfriends? trustworthy, etc.” before asking for a number from the Giants owner that he could call.
“I dont like records of these conversations,” Epstein wrote.
Then Epstein followed up to ask how Tisch’s apparent rendezvous with the woman went.
Documents released by the Department of Justice show Tisch emailing notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein in 2013. Getty Images
“you did very well,” Epstein wrote. “she wants to go to the play, —-she is a little freaked by the age difference but go slow and wati [sic], i will try to convince her not to return to ukraine , having her crying worked.”
Tisch has not been accused of any crimes associated with Epstein, and has expressed remorse for the time he spent with him.
“We had a brief association where we exchanged emails about adult women, and in addition, we discussed movies, philanthropy, and investments,” Tisch said in a statement.
“I did not take him up on any of his invitations and never went to his island. As we all know now, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret associating with.”
The NFL said in February that it was “aware” of the emails between Tisch and Epstein and “will look into the matter.”
NFL owners, jealous of the multi-billion-dollar valuation of their teams, have been quick to pressure scandal-plagued owners to sell.
Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder and Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson both reportedly faced threats to their ownership after allegations of sexual misconduct within their organizations.
And it’s not unheard of for sports owners to be forced out of their league for their indiscretions. Former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling was “banned for life” from the NBA in 2014 after he was caught making racist comments on a taped conversation with his former girlfriend.
Steve Tisch’s father Bob bought into the Giants in 1991. Bob Tisch had made a fortune with his brother Laurence demolishing movie theaters and selling the property through their Loews Corporation.
Loews soon diversified to cover a wide suite of industries, and remains worth about $22.5 billion – with the remaining kin living well and venturing into business themselves.
Steve Tisch (l) alongside Chris Mara (c) and John Mara (r) during John Harbaugh’s introductory press conference on Jan. 20, 2026. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Steve Tisch spent his career in film production – with credits including “Forrest Gump,” “Risky Business,” and “Pig” – and became the Giants’ board chairman in 2005. He is worth about $2.2 billion, according to Forbes.
His siblings Laurie and Jonathan Tisch have worked in philanthropy and the family company.
Their cousin Jessica Tisch is the commissioner of the NYPD and granddaughter of Loews-co-founder Laurence.
The family’s full plan for the Giants ownership inheritance remains unclear, but team ownership is frequently transferred from generation to generation through trusts. Steve, Laurie and Jonathan have eight living children.
Trusts can be used to reduce inheritance taxes – as taxation valuations on assets are frozen at the time they are placed in a trust. For families whose net worth is tied up in a sports franchise, inheretence taxes have the potential to be unaffordable.
The late Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss used trusts to transfer ownership of the team to family before his 2013 death, while Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay also used trusts to pass ownership of the football team ahead of his death last year.
Football leaders have been tight-lipped about the Tisch-Epstein scandal since the emails came to light this year, with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell saying the organization would “look at all the facts” before drawing any conclusions.
“We’ll look at how that falls under the [Personal Conduct] Policy. But I think we take one step at a time. Let’s get the facts first,” he told reporters ahead of the Super Bowl in February.
“We’ll determine whether we open an investigation or not based on those facts.”