Larry Summers has lost his consulting position at DE Shaw, a hedge fund known for its progressive ethos, marking an end to his career on Wall Street amid controversy surrounding his connection to Jeffrey Epstein.
The 70-year-old Summers had sought relationship advice from Epstein in a series of emails that were made public last week. Despite still being listed as an adviser in DE Shaw’s internal directory as of Friday morning, sources reveal he has been let go.
“They just fired him,” an insider confirmed after Summers’ DE Shaw email was checked following a request for comment.
A spokesperson from DE Shaw confirmed that “Larry Summers is no longer a consultant for the company.” Once recognized as a pivotal hire by the New York Times to attract global clients, Summers’ fall from grace was swift.
The spokesperson refrained from offering any further details about his exit. Summers, in the meantime, has not replied to requests for comments.
Having served as a macroeconomic consultant for DE Shaw since 2011, this marks another setback for Summers, who has recently been placed on leave from his role at Harvard University.
As part of the Obama and Clinton administrations, Summers was employed by the high-yield investment firm located near Harvard’s Cambridge campus, reportedly reporting to managing director Max Stone.
His initial engagement with the New York-based firm began when a trusted advisor, Michael O’Malley, joined in 2006, following Summers a year later.
After stepping down as Harvard’s president in late 2008, Summers took on the role of economics advisor under President Obama but returned to consulting after resigning from a previous treasury position.
In 2024, DE Shaw gained recognition as the most profitable hedge fund, largely due to algorithm-driven trading, raising over $11 billion for investors.
Founded by David E. Shaw, a significant donor to the Democratic Party, the firm has supported numerous presidential campaigns, including those of Kamala Harris and Joe Biden.
While the firm champions diversity and inclusion, reports suggest it has effectively silenced former employees regarding internal issues.
This week, Summers was placed on leave from his teaching role at Harvard while the university investigates its connections to Epstein.
He also stepped down from his role at the Mossabah Rahmani Center for Business and Government at Harvard’s Kennedy School.
Recent reports revealed that Summers traveled to Epstein’s private Caribbean island shortly after marrying his wife in 2005, a trip that included Ghislaine Maxwell, who later faced sex trafficking charges.
This trip occurred just months after law enforcement began investigating Epstein for alleged sexual offenses.
Email exchanges released by a Congressional Oversight Committee indicate Summers maintained a close relationship with Epstein, often discussing personal and professional matters over hundreds of emails from 2013 to 2019.
Some of these communications included trivial remarks, such as Summers’ offhanded comments about women’s intelligence. In one email, he jokingly referenced the distribution of IQ, suggesting that women hold half of the world’s intelligence, which he seemed to say without much context.
In another, he sought counsel from Epstein regarding a woman he was pursuing, expressing confusion about her intentions.
As a prominent figure in academia and politics, having served as Harvard’s president from 2001 to 2006, Summers also resigned from the board of OpenAI recently amid scrutiny over his connections to Epstein.
