Larry Summers to Retire from Harvard Amid Epstein Controversy
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers has decided to resign from his position as a tenured professor at Harvard University. This move comes in light of criticism related to his ties with Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender.
In November, a substantial release of documents unveiled that Summers had correspondence with Epstein back in 2013. This became public just after Epstein’s arrest, sparking a significant backlash, as reported by various outlets.
Summers expressed in a statement, “I have made the difficult decision to retire from my professorship at Harvard University at the end of this year.”
Interestingly, Epstein referred to himself as Summers’ “wingman” in some emails. There are reports suggesting that Summers and his wife had dated Epstein at one point and even visited his island during their honeymoon in 2005.
Before stepping down, Summers held several prominent roles in government, including serving as Secretary of the Treasury under Bill Clinton and previously as president of Harvard from 2001 to 2006. His recent controversies have led to the loss of various partnerships, including ties with organizations like the New York Times and Bloomberg TV. He also resigned from the board of OpenAI.
Summers admitted in November to feeling “deeply ashamed” about his actions and accepted full responsibility for maintaining contact with Epstein. Despite the fallout, he retained his position at Harvard throughout the economic downturn but has been on leave since that time.
He made his retirement announcement earlier this week, expressing gratitude for the years he spent at Harvard. “I will always be grateful to the thousands of students and colleagues I have had the privilege of teaching and working with since I came to Harvard as a graduate student 50 years ago,” he noted.
Additionally, a Harvard spokesperson confirmed that they accepted Summers’ resignation as part of their ongoing examination of recently disclosed government documents linked to Epstein.
