Epstein Fallout: Summers Resigns from Harvard, Brende Exits WEF

Former Harvard President Larry Summers has announced his retirement from all academic and faculty appointments at Harvard University, effective at the end of the academic year. This decision follows the public release of documents detailing his communications with Jeffrey Epstein. A university spokesperson confirmed that Harvard Kennedy School Dean Jeremy Weinstein accepted Summers’ resignation from his leadership role as co-director of the Mossavar Rahmani Center for Business and Government. Summers, who previously served as U.S. Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton and an economic adviser to President Barack Obama, had already stepped away from teaching in November amid scrutiny over his past connections to Epstein.

In a statement, Summers described the decision as difficult, expressing gratitude to the thousands of students and colleagues he has worked with over his 50 years at Harvard. He added that, as President Emeritus and a retired professor, he looks forward to engaging in research, analysis, and commentary on global economic issues. The revelations about his ties to Epstein became public after a House committee released a trove of emails. The ongoing repercussions of the Epstein scandal have also impacted other high-profile individuals, leading to a second significant resignation this week.

Separately, Borge Brende, the president and CEO of the World Economic Forum (WEF), stepped down following an internal investigation into his own connections with the late serial sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. While Brende’s resignation statement did not explicitly mention Epstein, it occurred just weeks after the WEF began probing his ties. The investigation uncovered that Brende had dined with Epstein at least three times, and had exchanged texts and emails with him, even after Epstein’s conviction for attempting to procure a child for prostitution. Brende maintained he was “completely unaware of Epstein’s past and criminal activities” and would have declined any interactions had he known.