VC Masha Bucher, Epstein’s friend and founder of First Day, explains herself

Masha Bucher, Silicon Valley VC and founder of Day One Ventures, he went to X this week to address allegations about his private business and relationship with convicted felon Jeffrey Epstein. Bucher’s name – mostly under her male name, Masha Drokova – appeared in Epstein’s recent files more than 1,600 times, The San Francisco Standard said.

“He made me feel like I could be safe from the government, someone with power and connections who would protect me” from the threats he faced in his home country of Russia, which he said he feared after getting a US green card, he wrote in the post.

“I didn’t really know, I didn’t do enough research,” she wrote about why she agreed to work with Epstein. “I believed his story that his past beliefs were about sleeping with a girl who lied about his age and he believed he would get a lot of money and science.” He also apologized to his founders, his team and his investors, saying that this had “caused pain I did not want.”

The files show how Bucher – whose Silicon Valley career began in media and public relations – agreed to become Epstein’s publicist in 2017, helping to rehabilitate his profile after the sex-trafficking conviction in 2008 and set up meetings between him and various journalists. as Forbes said.

The documents show that Epstein supported and encouraged him in the early days of Day One Ventures. The company has grown a lot – just like Bucher he told TechCrunchclosed its latest fund, the third car of $ 150 million, in 2024, bringing its assets to $ 450 million.

Some of the highlights from the emails include Epstein offering her money and a Prada bag, and at one point, asking her for nude photos — though there’s no indication she complied — according to SFGate. Bucher is a well-known VC in the Valley, with companies he’s backed like Superhuman, Remote, Worldcoin, and Truebill went to the Rocket Company in 2021), as well as others Valar Atomics.

The whole sector is very difficult for any VC spiel to the founders is that he is a PR expert which will help them with their public appearance. But Bucher is not the first to join the fray.

As a child, Bucher was known in Russia as a member of Nashi, a pro-Putin youth group. Instead, he was featured in the 2012 film “Putin’s Kiss” – named after the highly publicized moment in the country when he kissed Putin on the cheek – as CNN reported.

In his posts on X, he said he gave up his Russian passport, publicly criticized Putin, and met with other Epstein victims.

He is not the only VC whose name has been found in Epstein’s files, which is not surprising because he is connected with some of the biggest names in tech. The records do not indicate that Bucher violated the law. However, she corresponded with Epstein on a friendly note until just 11 days before his arrest in July 2019, Forbes reported. Epstein died in prison about a month later.