Larry Summers to resign from Harvard University over Jeffrey Epstein ties
The former Treasury secretary and Harvard president will step down from teaching and administrative roles by the end of the academic year following a university review of Epstein-related documents.
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Larry Summers, former U.S. Treasury secretary and president emeritus of Harvard University, announced Wednesday that he will resign from his teaching position and administrative roles at the university by the end of the current academic year.
Harvard confirmed the resignation in a statement, saying Summers' decision came "in connection with the ongoing review by the University of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein that were recently released by the government." Summers will remain on leave until his retirement takes effect and will not return to teaching before his departure.
Summers, 71, has also resigned as co-director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School, a position he held since 2011, according to a Harvard spokesperson.
In a statement, Summers said he had made "the difficult decision to retire from my Harvard professorship at the end of this academic year." He added, "I will always be grateful to the thousands of students and colleagues I have been privileged to teach and work with since coming to Harvard as a graduate student 50 years ago."
Summers first stepped back from his public commitments in November after the release of messages between him and the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. At that time, he also resigned from the board of artificial intelligence company OpenAI and numerous other positions, including roles at Bloomberg News, The New York Times, and the Center for American Progress.
Documents released by the Department of Justice showed a close relationship between Summers and Epstein that extended long after Epstein was convicted of prostitution involving a minor. Released emails indicated that Summers corresponded with Epstein until the day before the financier's 2019 arrest for alleged sex trafficking of children. Summers' name appeared hundreds of times in newly released Epstein files.
In November 2025, Summers expressed "regret" over his links with Epstein while addressing students in a class he had been teaching at Harvard. He has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. No Epstein survivor has accused Summers of misconduct, and there is no publicly available evidence indicating that he was involved in any of Epstein's crimes.
Summers previously served as president of Harvard from 2001 to 2006 and as Treasury secretary under former President Bill Clinton. He is a renowned economist who has held various academic and advisory positions throughout his career.