Larry Summers resigns from OpenAI board and Harvard launches new investigation after new Epstein ties are exposed
Larry Summers, the former president of Harvard University, has resigned from the board of OpenAI after a tranche of emails between him and the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were released.
Harvard University has launched an urgent investigation into the emails and his alleged ties with Epstein, whom he contacted as recently as 2019. Summers’ resignation came after it was revealed that he repeatedly contacted Epstein from November 2018 to July 2019, asking the disgraced financier for relationship advice.
Epstein was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008.
A few days ago, Summers, who also served as former President Bill Clinton’s treasury secretary and former President Barack Obama’s director of the National Economic Council, stepped back from all upcoming public engagements.
“In line with my announcement to step away from my public commitments, I have also decided to resign from the board of OpenAI,” Summers said in a statement. “I am grateful for the opportunity to have served, excited about the potential of the company and look forward to following their progress.”
Summers joined the board of directors in 2023.
He signed on to the company, now worth an estimated $750 billion, during a turbulent period when co-founder Sam Altman was briefly ousted as CEO.
“We appreciate his many contributions and the perspective he brought to the Board,” a statement read.
Summers also resigned from Santander Bank’s international advisory board, which he chaired, Reuters reported, citing a company spokesperson. He had been on the board since 2016.
Summers and Epstein’s correspondence was included in the text messages and emails released earlier this month by the House Oversight Committee, shortly before Congress voted to release the Epstein files in full.
In emails, Summers expressed concern that an unnamed woman was hesitant to end their relationship because she valued his “professional connection.”
Since 2005, Summers has been married to PBS’ Poetry in America host Elisa New.
In response, Epstein, describing himself as Summers’ “wing man,” said the unnamed woman was “doomed to be with you.”
“Think for now I’m going nowhere with her except economics mentor,” Summers wrote in November 2018. “I think I’m right now in the seen very warmly in rear view mirror category.”
