His Job Was to Make Elite Greed Look Like a Virtue. His Ties to Epstein Have Made that Impossible.

"Over the past three days, there has been a rush to cut ties with Summers just about everywhere- the Center for American Progress, the New York Times, the Hamilton Project, the Yale Budget Lab, and the Center for Global Development all announced the termination of their relationships with him. On Wednesday Summers himself resigned from the OpenAI Board of Directors, and on Thursday, Harvard announced that Summers would be removed from teaching duties pending a University investigation."

"And yet the connection between Summers and Epstein has long been public knowledge. Summers joined OpenAI in November of 2023, almost four years after the New York Times published a photo of him hanging out with Epstein at the sex trafficker's Manhattan mansion, and six months after the world learned that Summers had solicited donations from Epstein on behalf of his wife's poetry foundation. Undeterred, the Times itself hired Summers as a contributor to its Opinion section at the beginning of 2025."

"His misogyny was established decades ago when he mused that women were biologically predestined for scientific mediocrity. The most sexually compromising aspect of the new emails is a back and forth with Epstein over Summers' quest to cheat on his wife with another economist. Summers struck out and Epstein bucked him up. Complaining about Me Too to Jeffrey Epstein is not a marker of moral excellence, but at worst the new emails simply confirm that Summers hasn't changed."

Several prominent organizations and institutions severed ties with Larry Summers within days, including the Center for American Progress, the New York Times, the Hamilton Project, the Yale Budget Lab, the Center for Global Development, and Harvard's teaching duties pending investigation. Summers resigned from the OpenAI board. Summers' association with Jeffrey Epstein had been publicly visible for years, including a widely published photo and solicitation of donations from Epstein for his wife's poetry foundation. The New York Times later hired Summers as an Opinion contributor. Summers' past comments on women's scientific ability and newly released emails about infidelity and complaints about Me Too underscore persistent problematic behavior.

Read at Slate Magazine