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Billionaire Tom Pritzker said he would retire as executive chairman of Hyatt Hotels and step down from the company’s board after new Department of Justice (DOJ) disclosures detailed his past communications with Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender and financer, making him the latest high-profile figure to relinquish a leadership role following the release of the Epstein files.
The DOJ's publication of more than 3 million pages of material under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law last year, has spurred resignations and leadership shake-ups across business, politics, and the arts.
Newly unsealed emails, flight logs, and internal records have resurfaced connections involving high-profile figures such Trump, former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Richard Branson, Noam Chomsky, Bill Gates, Steve Bannon, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, among many others.
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Appearing in the Epstein files is not indicative of criminal wrongdoing and there haven't been any arrests or charges filed against those named. However, the documents have prompted institutions to act on reputational and governance concerns stemming from previously undisclosed ties to Epstein.
Below is a compilation of major resignations, removals and step-downs connected to Epstein since 2019.
Tom Pritzker
Pritzker, executive chairman of Hyatt Hotels Corporation and a member of the prominent Pritzker family, retired on February 16, and said he would not seek reelection to the board following renewed scrutiny tied to document disclosures. He acknowledged poor judgment in maintaining contact with Epstein after his conviction but said he was unaware of criminal conduct.
Hyatt described the transition as planned, though the timing coincided with heightened public attention following the latest Justice Department release.
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Larry Summers
Larry Summers, the former U.S. Treasury Secretary and former Harvard president, resigned from the board of OpenAI and several other public roles in November 2025.
He also went on leave from his teaching duties at Harvard University. The move came after emails from 2018 and 2019 revealed him seeking "romantic advice" from Epstein regarding a mentee, with Epstein referring to himself as Summers' "wing man."
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Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem
Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the long-standing Chairman and CEO of DP World, a multinational logistics company based in Dubai, resigned effective immediately on February 13. His departure followed the publication of various email exchanges with Epstein from 2015, which led major international partners—including Canada’s La Caisse pension fund and the UK’s British International Investment—to suspend future deals with the logistics giant.
The government in Dubai announced on social media Friday that Essa Kazim would become chairman of DP World and Yuvraj Narayan would be CEO. It made no reference to Sulayem or the Epstein files.
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Kathy Ruemmler
Kathy Ruemmler, chief legal officer of Goldman Sachs and a former White House counsel under President Barack Obama, submitted her resignation in February, effective four months later, after renewed scrutiny focused on her past professional interactions with Epstein.
Internal correspondence in the document release showed frequent communication and personal gifts exchanged during her time in private practice.
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David Gelernter
David Gelernter, a Yale University computer science professor and prominent conservative commentator, was relieved of teaching duties at Yale in February after emails referencing post-conviction contact with Epstein resurfaced in the latest disclosure.
The university said it was conducting a review.
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Lee Smolin
Lee Smolin, a world-renowned theoretical physicist and founding member of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, agreed to "pause his working relationship" with the institute and the University of Waterloo on February 11. The latest disclosure contained over 180 mentions of Smolin, including correspondence that contradicted his previous public claims that he had ceased contact with Epstein after 2008.
Mona Juul
Mona Juul, Norway’s ambassador to Jordan and Iraq, resigned on February 9, citing a “serious failure of judgment” related to her past ties to Epstein. Her departure followed the public release of correspondence that renewed scrutiny of her diplomatic role.
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Morgan McSweeney
McSweeney, chief-of-staff to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, resigned on February 8. He stated he took "full responsibility" for the flawed vetting process and for advising the prime minister to appoint Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the U.S. in 2024, despite Mandelson's known ties to Epstein which were further detailed in the DOJ's most recent document dump.
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Jack Lang
Jack Lang, a veteran French politician and head of the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, resigned on February 6 after disclosures detailed years of intermittent correspondence with Epstein.
French prosecutors subsequently opened a financial investigation related to matters revealed in the files.
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Joanna Rubinstein
Joanna Rubinstein, a biologist and president of Sweden for UNHCR, resigned in early February. Her resignation followed evidence in the files of a 2012 visit to Epstein’s private island with her family.
In her resignation statement, she admitted she was aware of Epstein’s 2008 conviction at the time of the visit. She also said, "It is my own decision to step down as chairman. As I have previously communicated, I met Epstein on one occasion. Apart from this, I have had no other contact with him.”
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Brad Karp
Brad Karp stepped down as chair of the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in early 2026 after emails showed him praising Epstein and corresponding about various matters, including visa issues and social gatherings. He also resigned from the board of trustees at Union College.
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Kimbal Musk
Kimbal Musk, younger brother of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, resigned from the board of the Burning Man Project in February following renewed attention to emails showing Epstein had helped arrange a personal relationship for him in 2012 and 2013.
Musk said he only met Epstein once and "never went to his island."
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Thorbjørn Jagland
Thorbjørn Jagland, former prime minister of Norway and former secretary general of the Council of Europe, was charged in February with gross corruption in connection with matters tied to the disclosures. Though he had previously stepped away from leadership roles, the charges marked a formal legal escalation linked to renewed scrutiny.
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Peter Mandelson
Peter Mandelson was dismissed as the UK's ambassador to the U.S. in September 2025 after it emerged he had sent supportive messages to Epstein following his conviction and maintained contact. The disclosures triggered political backlash in Britain and investigations into leaked government materials.
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Jes Staley
Jes Staley stepped down as chief executive of Barclays in November 2021 following regulatory scrutiny over the extent of his relationship with Epstein.
Investigations later revealed he had described Epstein as a close confidant in private communications.
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Joi Ito
Joi Ito resigned as director of the MIT Media Lab in September 2019 after reports revealed he had accepted funding from Epstein and worked to conceal the donations after Epstein’s prior conviction became public.
His resignation marked one of the earliest major institutional consequences following Epstein’s 2019 arrest.
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Prince Andrew
Prince Andrew stepped back from public royal duties in November 2019 amid intense scrutiny over his friendship with Epstein and a widely criticized BBC interview about the relationship. In January 2022, Queen Elizabeth II stripped him of his military affiliations and royal patronages, effectively removing him from official public roles.
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