Former US Treasury secretary Larry Summers resigned from his teaching post at Harvard University over his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the Ivy League institution said Wednesday.
Summers, who ran the US Treasury under former president Bill Clinton, was revealed in the Epstein files released by the Department of Justice to have had extensive exchanges with the now deceased financier.
Clinton will testify before a congressional committee on Epstein on Friday while his wife, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, was to appear Thursday.
"Harvard Kennedy School Dean Jeremy Weinstein has accepted Professor Lawrence H. Summers' resignation from his leadership position as co-director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government," the university said in a statement, noting the move was linked to the Epstein case.
"Professor Summers has announced that he will retire from his academic and faculty appointments at Harvard at the end of this academic year and will remain on leave until that time."
In a previous video clip that went viral, Summers, who taught government at the prestigious university's Kennedy School, expressed regret to his students over his ties to Epstein. "You will have seen my statement of regret expressing my shame with respect to what I did in communication with Mr Epstein," he said.
In November 2025, Summers said he was "stepping back" from public commitments after Congress released emails showing close communication between him and Epstein.
"I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr Epstein," Summers said at the time in a statement to US media.
Summers also previously resigned from the board of the OpenAI foundation over the disclosures.
The mere mention of someone's name in the Epstein files does not, in itself, imply any wrongdoing by that person. However, the documents made public show at the very least connections between Epstein or his circle and certain public figures who have often downplayed -- or even denied -- the existence of such ties.
Epstein cultivated a global network of powerful politicians, business executives, academics and celebrities -- many of whom have been tainted by their association with him.
He had made $9.1 million in donations to Harvard University between 1998 and 2008, the institution said.
Bill Gates admits affairs, denies involvement
Bill Gates has admitted making a "huge mistake" in associating with Jeffrey Epstein, telling staff at his charity foundation that he had affairs with two Russian women but denying involvement in the disgraced financier's crimes.
The Microsoft co-founder is among the prominent names appearing in documents released by the US Justice Department that revealed close friendships, illicit financial dealings and private photos with convicted sex offender Epstein.
In a town hall Tuesday with staff at the Gates Foundation, a recording of which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Gates expressed regret that his relationship with Epstein had affected the work of his philanthropic organization.
"It was a huge mistake to spend time with Epstein" and to also bring Gates Foundation executives into meetings with Epstein, he said.
"I apologize to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made." In a draft email among the documents released by the Justice Department, Epstein alleged Gates engaged in extramarital affairs, writing that his relationship with Gates ranged from "helping Bill to get drugs, in order to deal with consequences of sex with russian girls, to facilitating his illicit trysts, with married women." Gates, 70, admitted at the town hall to two affairs.
"I did have affairs, one with a Russian bridge player who met me at bridge events, and one with a Russian nuclear physicist who I met through business activities," he said.
But he denied any involvement with victims of Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking underage girls.
"I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit," Gates told the town hall.
The tech titan said his relationship with Epstein began in 2011, three years after the financier pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution.
Gates said he knew of an "18-month thing" restricting Epstein's travel but didn't check his background.
He said his then-wife Melinda expressed concerns about Epstein in 2013, but that he continued the relationship for at least another year.
"Knowing what I know now makes it, you know, a hundred times worse in terms of not only his crimes in the past, but now it's clear there was ongoing bad behavior," Gates told staff.
The Gates Foundation said Gates addressed the Epstein case and other issues at its scheduled twice-yearly town hall event. "Bill spoke candidly, addressing several questions in detail, and took responsibility for his actions," it said in a statement. (AFP)
