November 19, 2025
1 min read
Epstein Files Spark Harvard Investigation into Larry Summers
E-mails between Larry Summers and the now deceased financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein from 2018 and 2019 have raised questions about a relationship Summers pursued with a student
Larry Summers, president emeritus and professor at Harvard University on July 9, 2025.
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Harvard University has launched an investigation into former university president and influential economist Larry Summers and almost a dozen other scholars over their ties to disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Describing himself as “deeply ashamed,” Summers announced he would step back from his “public commitments,” aside from teaching, and resigned from the board of OpenAI on Monday.
A trove of Epstein’s e-mails that was released by a congressional committee last week revealed surprising links with several university-associated personnel. In some 2018 and 2019 e-mails, Summers appeared to have sought relationship advice from the then convicted sex offender over a relationship Summers had sought with a younger woman he described as a mentee. Epstein died while awaiting trial in 2019.
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News of the investigation was first published on Tuesday by the Harvard Crimson, a student newspaper. A Harvard spokesperson told the Crimson that its review of personnel involved with Epstein was aimed “to evaluate what actions may be warranted.” Summers did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Scientific American.
Editor’s Note: This is a developing story and may be updated.
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