When former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers needed to come up with $1 million to fund his wife's online poetry project, he turned to Jeffrey Epstein.
"I need small scale philanthropy advice," Summers emailed Epstein in April, 2014. "My life will be better if i raise $1m for Lisa. Mostly it will go to make it a pbs series and for teacher training. Ideas?"
According to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, the prominent financier replied that they could meet in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Summers invited Epstein to dinner and they made plans two days later to meet at a nearby restaurant called The Fireplace. The Journal reports that the meeting was one of several the two men arranged that year.
Tax records show that a nonprofit organization linked to Epstein donated $110,000 in 2016 to the nonprofit of Elisa New, a Harvard professor and Summers' wife.
The thousands of pages of emails and schedules from 2013 to 2017 reviewed by the Journal provide new insight into Epstein's relationships with the rich and the powerful after he had registered as a sex offender. In 2008 he had pleaded guilty to soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution.
The purpose of most of the meetings is not revealed in the documents and the Journal couldn't verify if every scheduled meeting actually took place. Several of the people told the outlet their reasons for meeting with Epstein were related to his wealth and social connections.
Among the new revelations:
- Summers continued to turn to Epstein for help years after Harvard declined to accept his donations.
- Billionaire venture capitalist and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman visited Epstein's private Caribbean island and was scheduled in 2014 to stay at his Manhattan townhouse.
- Along with his wife, Soon-Yi Previn, Oscar-winning director Woody Allen attended dozens of dinners at Epstein's townhouse and invited Epstein to screenings of his films.
- Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak visited Epstein many times and flew on Epstein's private plane while visiting his Florida and New York mansions.
- Leon Black, the billionaire co-founder of private-equity firm Apollo Global Management, set up more than 100 meetings with Epstein in a four-year period.
Epstein died in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges that he had abused girls and run a sex-trafficking ring. The New York City medical examiner ruled his death a suicide.
The documents show that Barnaby Marsh, then an executive at the John Templeton Foundation, met with Epstein approximately 24 times, often for breakfast. Marsh, who advises the wealthy on philanthropy, told the Journal he went to Epstein's townhouse because it was full of billionaires and academics who were interested in charitable giving.
"So many of these billionaires knew him," he said. "Nobody ever said, Watch out for him."
Epstein gathered people, including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, to work on problems facing rich donors, Marsh said.
"I had high hopes that he would follow the paths of others who used their 'second chance' to make a positive impact in the world," he said. "In the end, he disappointed me."
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