Tim Leissner needed to be ‘rich’ to be with Kimora Lee Simmons

On Feb 19, 2022

Tim Leissner was never exactly the shy, retiring type. As the Southeast Asia chairman at Goldman Sachs, he reportedly was making more than $10 million a year by 2012, spending lavishly, and known as a hard-partier

But hooking up with Kimora Lee Simmons — the glamorous model, Baby Phat designer and ex-wife of Def Jam Records co-founder Russell Simmons — that same year pushed him to live a more luxe life.

“He married Kimora and needed to present a richer personality. He couldn’t be a banker. He had to be a rich guy with his own yacht,” Bradley Hope, co-author of “Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Walled Street, Hollywood and the World,” told The Post.

“He wanted to be a player instead of the guy who just deals with players.”

Last week, Leissner, 51, was roasted at federal court in Brooklyn — in the hot seat as government’s witness in the trial of his former underling. Roger Ng is charged with conspiring to launder money and violate the federal Foreign Corrupt Practices Act as part of a purported $4.5 billion heist against the sovereign fund of Malaysia, allegedly spearheaded by notorious party boy — and friend of Leonardo DiCaprio — Jho Low (now on the lam in China).

Tim Leissner met Kimora Lee Simmons on a flight. He proposed to her once they landed. — Tim Leissner met Kimora Lee Simmons on a flight – and proposed to her once they landed.

Goldman Sachs bankers are alleged to have helped themselves to tens of millions of dollars from Malaysia’s sovereign development fund 1MDB, which had raised $8 billion to be invested on behalf of Malaysia’s citizenry.

The German-born Leissner has already worked out a plea deal — pleading guilty to charges of money laundering and forfeiting $43.7 million. (According to court documents, between 2012 and October 2014, more than $200 million is alleged to have been transferred from 1MDB to accounts owned and controlled by Leissner and a co-conspirator.) But Ng’s attorney Marc Agnifilo is still dragging him through the mud.

“Tim Leissner uses people,” Agnifilo said in court on Feb. 14. He was “married to two different women at the same time – twice.” The attorney also accused Leissner of forging documents including divorce papers and of having sexual relations with Jasmine Loo Ai Swan, formerly the general counsel for 1MDB who received a $5 million transfer from the fund.

Tim Leissner (center) struck a plea deal with the government, but is still being raked over the coals in court. — Tim Leissner (center) struck a plea deal with the government but is still being raked over the coals in court.

“Those things should have been red flags,” the defense attorney said.

Calling Leissner a “mini version of Low,” Agnifilo claimed the former banker sought out money to to buy private planes, yachts and homes in Beverly Hills.

Leissner’s attorney had no comment for this story.

Hope also pointed out some of Leissner’s past shady behavior.

In 1993, “He bought a Ph.D. online and started calling himself Dr. Leissner,” the author said. In “Billion Dollar Whale,” Hope writes, “Leissner began using the title ‘Dr.’ at speaking engagements and soon after he secured a promotion to vice president at J.P. Morgan.”

Leissner has always lived a life of privilege.

Russell Simmons (far left, with actress Shannon Elizabeth) is suing his ex-wife, Kimora Lee Simmons, and Leissner, claiming his shares in an energy drink company were fraudulently used for Leissner's bail. The two deny this. — Russell Simmons (far left, with actress Shannon Elizabeth) is suing his ex-wife, Kimora Lee Simmons, and Leissner, claiming his shares in an energy drink company were fraudulently used for Leissner’s bail.

The son of an affluent Volkswagen executive, as a child he was obsessed with tennis and attended camps where he received lessons from the likes of Steffi Graf. After getting an MBA from the University of Hartford in Connecticut, he moved to London for an entry-level position at J.P. Morgan and his first marriage.

Around the mid-1990s, his marriage hit the skids, business boomed and Hong Kong beckoned.

He next wed married Judy Chan, the daughter of a Chinese coal magnate. The couple’s lavish wedding, held on the grounds of a smart Hong Kong hotel, was notorious for its array of suckling pigs with flashing lights stuffed into the animals’ eye sockets.

Playboy entrepreneur Jho Low (right) — seen here with Leonardo DiCaprio, one of many celebrities he paid to attend his parties — allegedly greased the wheels for the bankers to embezzle from the fund. — Playboy entrepreneur Jho Low — seen with Leonardo DiCaprio, one of many celebrities he paid to attend his parties — allegedly greased the wheels for the bankers to embezzle from the fund.

(Although Ng’s attorney Anigfilo claimed in court last week that Leissner was a “double bigamist” who was “married to two different women at the same time, twice,” it is not known which women he is referring to.)

For American investment bankers in that era, the Far East was more like the Wild West. Leissner and his colleagues swaggered around the continent, their pockets bulging with cash, taking the notion of work-hard/play-hard to an extreme.

According to the Financial Times, “His partying ability was legendary, and even rivals admit he would still show up on time for meetings, however late the…