Update: On Saturday, less than a day after the publication of this story, Joi Ito, the director of the M.I.T. Media Lab, resigned from his position. \u201cAfter giving the matter a great deal of thought over the past several days and weeks, I think that it is best that I resign as director of the media lab and as a professor and employee of the Institute, effective immediately,\u201d Ito wrote in an internal e-mail. In a message to the M.I.T. community<\/a>, L. Rafael Reif, the president of M.I.T., wrote, \u201cBecause the accusations in the story are extremely serious, they demand an immediate, thorough and independent investigation,\u201d and announced that M.I.T.\u2019s general counsel would engage an outside law firm to oversee that investigation.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The M.I.T. Media Lab, which has been embroiled in a scandal over accepting donations from the financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, had a deeper fund-raising relationship with Epstein than it has previously acknowledged, and it attempted to conceal the extent of its contacts with him. Dozens of pages of e-mails and other documents obtained by The New Yorker<\/em> reveal that, although Epstein was listed as \u201cdisqualified\u201d in M.I.T.\u2019s official donor database, the Media Lab continued to accept gifts from him, consulted him about the use of the funds, and, by marking his contributions as anonymous, avoided disclosing their full extent, both publicly and within the university. Perhaps most notably, Epstein appeared to serve as an intermediary between the lab and other wealthy donors, soliciting millions of dollars in donations from individuals and organizations, including the technologist and philanthropist Bill Gates and the investor Leon Black. According to the records obtained by The New Yorker<\/em>and accounts from current and former faculty and staff of the media lab, Epstein was credited with securing at least $7.5 million in donations for the lab, including two million dollars from Gates and $5.5 million from Black, gifts the e-mails describe as \u201cdirected\u201d by Epstein or made at his behest. The effort to conceal the lab\u2019s contact with Epstein was so widely known that some staff in the office of the lab\u2019s director, Joi Ito, referred to Epstein as Voldemort or \u201che who must not be named.\u201d<\/p>\n The financial entanglement revealed in the documents goes well beyond what has been described in public statements by M.I.T. and by Ito. The University has said that it received eight hundred thousand dollars from Epstein\u2019s foundations, in the course of twenty years, and has apologized for accepting that amount. In a statement last month, M.I.T.\u2019s president, L. Rafael Reif, wrote, \u201cwith hindsight, we recognize with shame and distress that we allowed MIT to contribute to the elevation of his reputation, which in turn served to distract from his horrifying acts. No apology can undo that.\u201d Reif pledged to donate the funds to a charity to help victims of sexual abuse. On Wednesday, Ito disclosed that he had separately received $1.2 million from Epstein for investment funds under his control, in addition to five hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars that he acknowledged Epstein had donated to the lab. A spokesperson for M.I.T. said that the university \u201cis looking at the facts surrounding Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s gifts to the institute.\u201d<\/p>\n The documents and sources suggest that there was more to the story. They show that the lab was aware of Epstein\u2019s history\u2014in 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges of solicitation of prostitution and procurement of minors for prostitution\u2014and of his disqualified status as a donor. They also show that Ito and other lab employees took numerous steps to keep Epstein\u2019s name from being associated with the donations he made or solicited. On Ito\u2019s calendar, which typically listed the full names of participants in meetings, Epstein was identified only by his initials. Epstein\u2019s direct contributions to the lab were recorded as anonymous. In September, 2014, Ito wrote to Epstein soliciting a cash infusion to fund a certain researcher, asking, \u201cCould you re-up\/top-off with another $100K so we can extend his contract another year?\u201d Epstein replied, \u201cyes.\u201d Forwarding the response to a member of his staff, Ito wrote, \u201cMake sure this gets accounted for as anonymous.\u201d Peter Cohen, the M.I.T. Media Lab\u2019s Director of Development and Strategy at the time, reiterated, \u201cJeffrey money, needs to be anonymous. Thanks.\u201d<\/p>\n Epstein\u2019s apparent role in directing outside contributions was also elided. In October, 2014, the Media Lab received a two-million-dollar donation from Bill Gates; Ito wrote in an internal e-mail, \u201cThis is a $2M gift from Bill Gates directed by Jeffrey Epstein.\u201d Cohen replied, \u201cFor gift recording purposes, we will not be mentioning Jeffrey\u2019s name as the impetus for this gift.\u201d A mandatory record of the gift filed within the university stated only that \u201cGates is making this gift at the recommendation of a friend of his who wishes to remain anonymous.\u201d Knowledge of Epstein\u2019s alleged role was usually kept within a tight circle. In response to the university filing, Cohen wrote to colleagues, \u201cI did not realize that this would be sent to dozens of people,\u201d adding that Epstein \u201cis not named but questions could be asked\u201d and that \u201cI feel uncomfortable that this was distributed so widely.\u201d He wrote that future filings related to Epstein should be submitted only \u201cif there is a way to do it quietly.\u201d An agent for Gates wrote to the leadership of the Media Lab, stating that Gates also wished to keep his name out of any public discussion of the donation.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Gates said that \u201cany claim that Epstein directed any programmatic or personal grantmaking for Bill Gates is completely false.\u201d A source close to Gates said that the entrepreneur has a long-standing relationship with the lab, and that anonymous donations from him or his foundation are not atypical. Gates has previously denied receiving financial advisory services from Epstein; in August, CNBC reported that he met with Epstein in New York in 2013, to discuss \u201cways to increase philanthropic spending.\u201d<\/p>\n Joi Ito and Peter Cohen did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Ito, in his public statements, has downplayed his closeness with Epstein, stating that \u201cRegrettably, over the years, the Lab has received money through some of the foundations that he controlled,\u201d and acknowledging only that he \u201cknew about\u201d gifts and personally gave permission. But the e-mails show that Ito consulted closely with Epstein and actively sought the various donations. At one point, Cohen reached out to Ito for advice about a donor, writing, \u201cyou or Jeffrey would know best.\u201d<\/p>\n Epstein, who socialized with a range of high-profile and influential people, had for years been followed by claims that he sexually abused underage girls. Police investigated the reports several times. In 2008, after a Florida grand jury charged Epstein with soliciting prostitution, he received a controversial plea deal, which shielded him from federal prosecution and allowed him to serve less than thirteen months, and much of it on a \u201cwork release,\u201d permitting him to spend much of his time out of jail. Alexander Acosta, the prosecutor responsible for that plea deal, went on to become President Trump\u2019s Secretary of Labor, but resigned from that post in July, amid widespread criticism related to the Epstein case. That same month, Esptein was arrested in New York, on federal sex-trafficking charges. He died from suicide, in a jail cell in Manhattan, last month.<\/p>\n Current and former faculty and staff of the media lab described a pattern of concealing Epstein\u2019s involvement with the institution. Signe Swenson, a former development associate and alumni coordinator at the lab, told me that she resigned in 2016 in part because of her discomfort about the lab\u2019s work with Epstein. She said that the lab\u2019s leadership made it explicit, even in her earliest conversations with them, that Epstein\u2019s donations had to be kept secret. In early 2014, while Swenson was working in M.I.T.\u2019s central fund-raising office, as a development associate, she had breakfast with Cohen, the Director of Development and Strategy. They discussed her application for a fund-raising role at the Media Lab. According to Swenson, Cohen explained to her that the lab was currently working with Epstein and that it was seeking to do more with the financier. \u201cHe said Joi has been working with Jeffrey Epstein and Epstein\u2019s connecting us to other people,\u201d Swenson recalled. She assumed that Cohen raised the matter \u201cto test whether I would be confidential and sort of feel out whether I would be O.K. with the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n Swenson had seen that Epstein was listed in the university\u2019s central donor database as disqualified. \u201cI knew he was a pedophile and pointed that out,\u201d she said. She recalled telling Cohen that working with Epstein \u201cdoesn\u2019t seem like a great idea.\u201d But she respected the lab\u2019s work and ultimately accepted a job with them.<\/p>\n That spring, during her first week in her new role, the issue arose again. Swenson recalled having a conversation with Cohen and Ito about how to take money from Epstein without reporting it within the university. Cohen asked, \u201cHow do we do this?\u201d Swenson replied that, due to the university\u2019s internal-reporting requirements, there was no way to keep the donations under the radar. Ito, as Swenson recalled, replied, \u201cwe can take small gifts anonymously.\u201d<\/p>\n In the course of 2014 and 2015, according to the e-mails and sources, Ito and Epstein also developed an ambitious plan to secure a large new influx of contributions from Epstein\u2019s contacts, including Gates, without disclosing the full extent of the financier\u2019s involvement to M.I.T.\u2019s central fund-raising office. The e-mails show that Epstein was the point person for communication with the donors, including Gates and Black, the founder of Apollo Global Management, one of the world\u2019s largest private-equity firms. In one message to Ito, Epstein wrote, \u201cGates would like a write up on our one science program for tues next week.\u201d In an e-mail from Cohen to Ito, asking whether Black wished his contributions to remain anonymous, Cohen wrote, \u201cCan you ask Jeffrey to ask Leon that?\u201d He added, \u201cWe can make it anonymous easily, unless Leon would like the credit. If Jeffrey tells you that Leon would like a little love from MIT, we can arrange that too.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u201d<\/p>\n Black declined to comment. A source close to him said that he did not intend for the donation to be anonymous. Black has downplayed<\/a> his relationship with Epstein in recent months, describing it as limited and focussed on tax strategy, estate planning, and philanthropic advice. He has declined to answer questions about business dealings with Epstein that suggest a closer relationship. Several years after Epstein\u2019s conviction, Black and his children and Epstein jointly invested in a company that makes emission-control products.<\/p>\n Although the lab ultimately secured the $7.5 million from Gates and Black, Epstein and Ito\u2019s fund-raising plan failed to reach the still larger scale that they had initially hoped. Epstein had suggested that he could insure that any donations he solicited, including those from Gates and Black, would be matched by the John Templeton Foundation, which funds projects at the intersection of faith and science. Ultimately, the Foundation did not provide funding and a spokesperson said that the organization has no records related to any such plan.<\/p>\n In the summer of 2015, as the Media Lab determined how to spend the funds it had received with Epstein\u2019s help, Cohen informed lab staff that Epstein would be coming for a visit. The financier would meet with faculty members, apparently to allow him to give input on projects and to entice him to contribute further. Swenson, the former development associate and alumni co\u00f6rdinator, recalled saying, referring to Epstein, \u201cI don\u2019t think he should be on campus.\u201d She told me, \u201cAt that point it hit me: this pedophile is going to be in our office.\u201d According to Swenson, Cohen agreed that Epstein was \u201cunsavory\u201d but said \u201cwe\u2019re planning to do it anyway\u2014this was Joi\u2019s project.\u201d Staffers entered the meeting into Ito\u2019s calendar without including Epstein\u2019s name. They also tried to keep his name out of e-mail communication. \u201cThere was definitely an explicit conversation about keeping it off the books, because Joi\u2019s calendar is visible to everyone,\u201d Swenson said. \u201cIt was just marked as a V.I.P. visit.\u201d<\/p>\n By then, several faculty and staff members had objected to the university\u2019s relationship with Epstein. Ethan Zuckerman, an associate professor, had voiced concerns about the relationship with Epstein for years. In 2013, Zuckerman said, he pulled Ito aside after a faculty meeting to express concern about meetings on Ito\u2019s calendar marked \u201cJ.E.\u201d Zuckerman recalled saying, \u201cI heard you\u2019re meeting with Epstein. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s a good idea,\u201d and Ito responding, \u201cYou know, he\u2019s really fascinating. Would you like to meet him?\u201d Zuckerman declined and said that he believed the relationship could have negative consequences for the lab.<\/p>\n In 2015, as Epstein\u2019s visit drew near, Cohen instructed his staff to insure that Zuckerman, if he unexpectedly arrived while Epstein was present, be kept away from the glass-walled office in which Epstein would be conducting meetings. According to Swenson, Ito had informed Cohen that Epstein \u201cnever goes into any room without his two female \u2018assistants,\u2019 \u201d whom he wanted to bring to the meeting at the Media Lab. Swenson objected to this, too, and it was decided that the assistants would be allowed to accompany Epstein but would wait outside the meeting room.<\/p>\n On the day of the visit, Swenson\u2019s distress deepened at the sight of the young women. \u201cThey were models. Eastern European, definitely,\u201d she told me. Among the lab\u2019s staff, she said, \u201call of us women made it a point to be super nice to them. We literally had a conversation about how, on the off chance that they\u2019re not there by choice, we could maybe help them.\u201d<\/p>\n Swenson and several other former and current M.I.T. Media Lab employees expressed discomfort over the lab\u2019s recent statements about its relationship with Epstein. In August, two researchers, including Zuckerman, resigned in protest over the matter. In a Medium post<\/a>announcing the decision, Zuckerman wrote that M.I.T. had \u201cviolated its own values so clearly in working with Epstein and in disguising that relationship.\u201d Zuckerman began providing counsel to other colleagues who also objected. He directed Swenson to seek representation from the legal nonprofit Whistleblower Aid, and she began the process of going public. \u201cJeffrey Epstein shows that\u2014with enough money\u2014a convicted sex offender can open doors at the highest level of philanthropy,\u201d John Tye, Swenson\u2019s attorney at Whistleblower Aid, told me. \u201cJoi Ito and his development chief went out of their way to keep Epstein\u2019s role under wraps. When institutions try to hide the truth, it often takes a brave whistle-blower to step forward. But it can be dangerous, and whistle-blowers need support.\u201d<\/p>\n Questions about when to accept money from wealthy figures accused of misconduct have always been fraught. Before his conviction, Epstein donated to numerous philanthropic, academic, and political institutions, which responded in a variety of ways to the claims of abuse. When news of the allegations first broke, in 2006, a Harvard spokesperson said that the university, which had received a 6.5-million-dollar donation from him three years earlier, would not be returning the money. Following Epstein\u2019s second arrest, in 2019, the university reiterated its stance. Many institutions attempted to distance themselves from Epstein after 2006, but others, including the M.I.T. Media Lab, continued to accept his money. When such donations come to light, institutions face difficult decisions about how to respond. The funds have often already been spent, and the tax deductions already taken by donors. But the revelations about Epstein\u2019s widespread sexual misconduct, most notably reported by Julie K. Brown in the Miami Herald<\/em><\/a>, have made clear that Epstein used the status and prestige afforded him by his relationships with \u00e9lite institutions to shield himself from accountability and continue his alleged predation.<\/p>\n Swenson said that, even though she resigned over the lab\u2019s relationship with Epstein, her participation in what she took to be a coverup of his contributions has weighed heavily on her since. Her feelings of guilt were revived when she learned of recent statements from Ito and M.I.T. leadership that she believed to be lies. \u201cI was a participant in covering up for Epstein in 2014,\u201d she told me. \u201cListening to what comments are coming out of the lab or M.I.T. about the relationship\u2014I just see exactly the same thing happening again.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/media.newyorker.com\/photos\/5d72ed4ef479dc000802e9c9\/master\/w_774,c_limit\/Farrow-MITEpstein-Email2.jpg "\\"\\"")
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