Nov 19, 2025 - Politics & Policy

Larry Summers takes leave from Harvard after Epstein emails release

Julianna Bragg

A gray-haired, balding and bearded former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, wearing a light blue shirt with white buttons, grimaces as he stares ahead outside at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 9, 2025 in Sun Valley, Idaho. — Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers in Sun Valley, Idaho, in July. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Former Harvard University president Larry Summers is taking leave from teaching at the college as it investigates his ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the school and the former treasury secretary confirmed Wednesday night.

The big picture: Summers, who served in the Clinton administration, announced Monday that he would be "stepping back from public commitments" after the House Oversight Committee released a trove of Epstein files that included email correspondence between Summers and Epstein.

In one of the emails that date from 2013 to 2019, the late financier referred to himself as Summers' "wing man."

What they're saying: "Mr. Summers has decided it's in the best interest of the Center for him to go on leave from his role as Director as Harvard undertakes its review," a spokesperson for the professor said.

"His co-teachers will complete the remaining three class sessions of the courses he has been teaching with them this semester, and he is not scheduled to teach next semester."
A Harvard spokesperson confirmed that Summers had communicated his decision to the university.

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Larry Summers takes leave from Harvard after Epstein emails release

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