Entangled in the Epstein scandal, former Harvard president Summers is "disgraced."

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With the release of private communications with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, former Harvard president Larry Summers is facing a severe reputation crisis and career upheaval. After the letters revealed he sought Epstein’s advice on pursuing a Chinese woman, he not only resigned from his board position at AI giant OpenAI, but has been forced to withdraw completely from the public sphere.

On Monday, Summers formally announced his withdrawal from all public engagements. According to media reports, Summers stated: "In accordance with my announcement to exit public affairs, I have also decided to resign from the OpenAI board." Although Summers insists he will continue teaching at Harvard University, on Monday evening after the announcement, his office appeared deserted.

The negative impact of the scandal has quickly spread across Summers’ academic and business networks. Harvard University announced that in the wake of the Summers scandal, it will launch a new round of investigations to review the university’s connections with Epstein.

Meanwhile, the business world also reacted swiftly. The New York Economic Club postponed a scheduled discussion event with Summers only hours after Harvard’s student paper The Crimson published related reports, telling the Financial Times that the delay was due to "inevitable scheduling changes."

These upheavals stem from last week’s release of over 20,000 estate files related to Epstein by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The documents show that Summers sought Epstein’s advice regarding personal romantic scandals involving a female student.

Document Disclosure Prompts New Harvard Investigation

According to Harvard’s student newspaper The Crimson, following the scandal, Harvard University will launch a new investigation. The scope of the investigation will cover information revealed in the newly unsealed files, including hundreds of messages between Summers and Epstein about women, politics, and Harvard-related initiatives.

Harvard previously conducted an investigation in 2020, which found that Epstein donated $9.179 million to Harvard through 22 "gifts," including $736,000 donated between his arrest in 2006 and his conviction for trafficking minors in 2008. Moreover, despite lacking the usual academic qualifications required of visiting scholars, Epstein was appointed as a visiting scholar in the Department of Psychology during the 2005–2006 academic year.

As Summers was a longtime close associate of Epstein, the newly released documents further detail Epstein’s longstanding connections with prominent Harvard figures.

Implications for Family Members and Financial Transactions

The newly disclosed documents show that beyond Summers himself, the scandal has also impacted his family members and other Harvard faculty. The files provide detailed records of interactions between Summers’ wife, retired Harvard English professor Elisa New, and Epstein.

In the documents, Elisa New discussed her personal projects in detail with Epstein and, years after Harvard claimed to have stopped accepting donations from Epstein, repeatedly sought funding from him. In a 2014 exchange, the two discussed the possibility of a $500,000 donation to New’s television program and digital project "Poetry in America." Additionally, she accepted funds from Leon Black, an executive at private equity giant Apollo Global Management, writing in a letter that the donation was facilitated by Epstein.

In December 2015, Elisa New wrote to Epstein: "Setting aside all the financial help, Jeffrey, having your support and consideration means so much to me." Besides the Summers couple, retired Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz also appeared in the documents.

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