Great Saint James (often written “Great St. James”) is currently reported to be owned by U.S. billionaire investor Stephen Deckoff , through his investment firm SD Investments LLC, which bought both Great Saint James and neighboring Little Saint James from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate in May 2023 for about 60 million dollars.

Quick Scoop: Who Owns Great Saint James Island?

If you’ve seen Great Saint James trending in news or forum threads, you’re mostly seeing the post‑Epstein story of the island’s ownership.

  • Today’s publicly reported owner: Stephen Deckoff , a private‑equity / hedge‑fund style investor based in the U.S.
  • How he owns it: via his firm SD Investments LLC , which announced the acquisition.
  • When he bought it: May 2023 , in a package deal with Little Saint James.
  • Approximate price: about 60 million USD for both islands combined.
  • Location context: Great Saint James is a private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, off the east end of St. Thomas.

So if you’re asking “who owns Great Saint James Island right now?”, the latest widely cited answer is: Stephen Deckoff (through SD Investments).

A Quick Ownership Timeline

To understand the “who owns Great Saint James Island” question, it helps to see how the island changed hands over time.

  1. Earlier private owners (pre‑2000s)
    • At one time, the island was valued around 3 million USD when it was owned by a woman who later died in a Swiss chalet; afterward, it was divided among three heirs.
 * From the late 1970s, family members of Danish politician **Christian Kjær** owned most of the island.
  1. Sports and real‑estate phase (2004)
    • In 2004, NFL player Jason Taylor agreed to purchase the island with help from real‑estate executives Robert Addie and Jorge M. Pérez, though legal disputes followed and the deal became tangled for years.
  1. Jeffrey Epstein era (2016–2019)
    • In 2016 , Great Saint James was bought for around 22.5 million USD by financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein , who already owned nearby Little Saint James.
 * Legal filings note that Epstein used a straw buyer to conceal his role when purchasing Great Saint James, and that he wanted to control the nearby island so others could not watch activity on his main property.
  1. Estate and sale after Epstein’s death (2019–2023)
    • After Epstein’s death in 2019, both islands became assets of his estate and were subject to lawsuits and settlements with the U.S. Virgin Islands government and victims.
 * In 2023, the estate agreed that a large portion of the sale proceeds from Great Saint James and Little Saint James would go toward a **105 million USD** settlement with the Virgin Islands.
  1. Current owner: Stephen Deckoff (from 2023)
    • In May 2023 , SD Investments, led by Stephen Deckoff , announced it had acquired both Great Saint James and Little Saint James.
 * Multiple outlets and later fact‑checks identify Deckoff as the islands’ new owner and confirm the roughly 60 million USD combined price.

What Are The Plans For The Island Now?

Deckoff has public plans to turn the islands into a resort, which shapes a lot of the “latest news” around who owns Great Saint James.

  • Planned use: reports describe a small luxury resort , roughly a 25‑room high‑end property across the islands.
  • Status: timelines mentioned an opening “as early as 2025,” but redevelopment is described as slower than first hoped, with planning, design, and regulatory steps still in progress.
  • Public framing: the project is often described as an attempt to “turn the page” on the islands’ association with Epstein by repurposing them for tourism.

A typical way forums talk about it now is: “Epstein’s islands were sold to billionaire Stephen Deckoff, who’s turning Great St. James and Little St. James into a resort.”

Snapshot: Past vs. Current Owner

Here’s a compact look at ownership at two points in time (ignoring earlier short‑lived deals and family inheritances):

[5][9] [9][5] [7][3][9] [3][7][9]
Time period Owner of Great Saint James How it was acquired Approx. price / notes
2016 – 2019 Jeffrey Epstein (via related entities) Purchase using a straw buyer to hide his role.About 22.5 million USD, private island near his main Little Saint James property.
From May 2023 (latest reports) Stephen Deckoff (via SD Investments LLC) Estate sale of Great Saint James and Little Saint James from Epstein’s estate.About 60 million USD for both islands combined.

Forum & “Trending Topic” Angle

Because of the Epstein connection, the question “who owns Great Saint James Island now?” pops up a lot in conspiracy threads, news comment sections, and casual gaming or meme forums.

  • Some posts mix up Little Saint James (“Epstein Island”) with Great Saint James , assuming only one island is involved.
  • Others focus on the ethics of turning sites linked to abuse and trafficking into luxury destinations for tourists.
  • A recurring debate:
    • One side argues that redevelopment can symbolically “clean” the space and provide economic benefits.
    • The other side feels that any glamorous resort project risks trivializing what happened there and could become morbid “trauma tourism.”

So if you see people asking “who owns Great Saint James Island” in late‑2025 or 2026 discussions, they’re usually trying to connect dots between Epstein, the new billionaire owner, and the resort plans still moving slowly through design and approvals.

TL;DR:
Right now, Stephen Deckoff , via SD Investments , is widely reported as the owner of Great Saint James Island, after buying it (together with Little Saint James) from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate in May 2023 for around 60 million USD.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.