Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said Wednesday that he will resign from the board at OpenAI after the release of emails between him and the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Summers had announced Monday that he would be stepping back from all public commitments, but it was not immediately clear whether that included his position at the artificial intelligence startup. “I am grateful for the opportunity to have served, excited about the potential of the company, and look forward to following their progress,” Summers said in a statement to CNBC. OpenAI’s board told CNBC it respects Summers’ decision to resign. “We appreciate his many contributions and the perspective he brought to the Board,” the OpenAI Board of Directors said in a statement. Details of Summers’ correspondence with Epstein were made public after the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released more than 20, 000 documents it obtained pursuant to a subpoena from Epstein’s estate.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/19/larry-summers-epstein-openai.html
Tag Archives: correspondence
Goldman Sachs stands by top lawyer who bashed Trump in chummy Jeffrey Epstein emails
Goldman Sachs is standing by its top lawyer after newly released emails revealed she repeatedly trashed President Trump in exchanges with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and turned to him for career advice. The Wall Street giant on Thursday defended general counsel Kathy Ruemmler following the release of her correspondence with Epstein by the House Oversight Committee. The emails released Wednesday span 2014 to 2019. Ruemmler joined Goldman Sachs as its top lawyer in 2020 and is currently co-vice chair of Goldman’s Firmwide Reputational Risk Committee, among other roles. Bankers inside Goldman previously complained to senior management about Ruemmler’s relationship with Epstein in light of her role on the reputational risk committee, which decides which clients the bank shouldn’t work with, according to The Wall Street Journal. Goldman officials reportedly told the bankers the Epstein matter had nothing to do with her job at the firm and that she was upfront in disclosing her relationship with Epstein when she joined “Kathy is an exceptional general counsel and we benefit from her judgment every day,” Goldman spokesman Tony Fratto said in a statement to CNBC this week. Ruemmler, who served as White House counsel under former President Barack Obama, regularly vented to Epstein about Trump’s political rise. “Trump is living proof of the adage that it is better to be lucky than smart,” she told Epstein in an August 2015 email. Months later, she expressed alarm about Trump’s climb in the polls as the real estate magnate was vying for the Republican nomination. “The Trump success is seriously scary,” Ruemmler wrote in February 2016. “Trump is truly stupid,” she wrote in July 2017. Months earlier, she called Trump “so gross.” Epstein’s reply: “Worse in real life and upclose.” The emails show Ruemmler also consulted Epstein on major career decisions, including whether she should become US attorney general in 2014. She picked his brain for advice when rival law firms tried to recruit her and when hunting for a Manhattan apartment, too. The correspondence was released by the House Oversight Committee, which obtained the emails from Epstein’s estate. The messages came after Epstein’s 2008 guilty plea in Florida to soliciting an underage girl for prostitution. He spent 13 months behind bars and became a registered sex offender. Epstein hanged himself in a Manhattan lockup while awaiting trial in August 2019 weeks after federal prosecutors charged him with sex trafficking. In October 2014, Ruemmler weighed whether she should succeed Eric Holder as head of the Justice Department. Epstein urged her to “talk to boss” about the position. In the same exchange, he offered to connect her with influential figures including Leon Black, Woody Allen, Peter Thiel and Larry Summers. Ruemmler ended up removing herself from consideration for the attorney general post and remained at the law firm Latham & Watkins, where she led its global white-collar defense group. The recently released emails captured Epstein and Ruemmler discussing former President Bill Clinton, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and even people Ruemmler apparently considered overweight. Fratto said Thursday the emails “were private correspondence well before Kathy Ruemmler joined Goldman Sachs.” Epstein told Ruemmler in one of the emails that he ended his friendship with former President Bill Clinton because he thought he was a liar. In a January 2016 messge, Epstein said he’d cut off contact with Clinton “when he swore, with whole hearted conviction to me, that he had done something, he had forgotten that he also swore the exact opposite to me only weeks before.” A January 2019 draft of Epstein’s will named Ruemmler as the backup executor to his estate, according to a copy of the document released by the House Oversight Committee earlier this year. In 2023, The Journal reported that Ruemmler met with Epstein “dozens” of times after leaving the White House and before starting her job at Goldman. Epstein invited her on a 2015 Paris trip and a 2017 visit to his Caribbean island, The Journal reported. Goldman has said Ruemmler’s ties to Epstein were professional and related to her work at Latham. But Latham has said Epstein wasn’t a client. The Post has sought comment from Goldman, Latham and the White House. Ruemmler didn’t respond to requests for comment.
https://nypost.com/2025/11/14/business/goldman-sachs-stands-by-kathy-ruemmler-after-she-bashed-trump-in-jeffrey-epstein-emails/
Japan’s Seniors Rediscover the Joy of Learning
A recent survey revealed that more than 70 percent of people aged 50 and over are interested in reskilling after retirement. This reflects a strong desire among seniors to stay active and engaged in society even after leaving the workforce.
To explore this trend, a reporter visited Takatsuki City, where a local initiative known as the Takatsuki Civic College offers learning opportunities specifically for seniors. The atmosphere in the classroom was lively and focused, with most participants being retirees intently listening to lectures.
Established five years ago, the program aims to help seniors form friendships and participate in their communities. Enrollment has been increasing annually, and today around 300 students are taking part in its 38 courses, all at an affordable cost.
One student explained, “I have two reasons for coming here. First, to prevent dementia, and second, to make new friends — although that part is not always easy.” Formerly a nurse, she said joining the classes allows her to rediscover herself and learn new things.
“There’s still so much I don’t know. Being among other people helps me see myself from a different perspective, and that’s interesting,” she added with a smile.
The story of 76-year-old Hiyo Okada in Takarazuka City offers another inspiring example of lifelong learning. Okada is now a second-year student in the Faculty of Psychology at Koshien University, a private four-year institution typically filled with younger students.
“When I’m at school, I feel so young,” she laughed. “But when I get home and see myself in the mirror, I’m surprised.”
Okada, who had spent over 50 years working as a hairdresser in Saitama, left her job at 70 and moved to Kansai, where her daughter lives. Feeling a long-held regret about not finishing high school, she enrolled in a correspondence high school before deciding to pursue higher education.
“Through my work, I realized how much I enjoy interacting with people,” she said. “When I told my teacher that, they suggested I study psychology, and I thought, why not?”
Although Koshien University offers full tuition and admission fee exemptions for adult learners over 35, Okada did not qualify because she entered through a high school recommendation program, meaning she pays all fees herself.
“Yes, I pay everything out of my own pocket,” she said cheerfully, describing the cost as an investment in herself.
At lunchtime, she often eats in the student cafeteria with classmates decades younger than her. “They call me A-chan,” she said. “That’s what my grandchildren call me at home, so it makes me feel comfortable here too.”
Her younger peers said they were initially surprised to see an older student but quickly grew close.
“When I first saw her, I thought she might be a staff member,” one classmate laughed. “But now, she’s like a bridge connecting everyone. Without her, I wouldn’t have made so many friends.”
Far from being isolated, Okada has become an indispensable presence in her department, organizing study sessions and helping younger students prepare for exams.
“She taught us every day for a week before finals,” said another student. “I wouldn’t have passed without her.”
After classes, Okada returns to her apartment, where her desk is covered with psychology textbooks and English materials.
“English is difficult,” she said, “but I keep trying.”
Her grandson often visits, and the two share warm moments together.
“She’s incredible,” he said proudly. “She’s living life to the fullest and enjoying every moment.”
Okada’s next goal is to become a certified psychological counselor.
“I want to be the kind of grandmother who sits quietly in the corner of an elementary or junior high school, someone children can talk to about anything,” she said. “That’s my dream.”
Experts note that the rise of such learning initiatives highlights a changing role for seniors in Japanese society.
“In the past, grandparents held important positions within extended families and communities,” one commentator said. “Now, as families become more nuclear, these new forms of community involvement give seniors a renewed sense of purpose and belonging.”
As Japan’s population continues to age, stories like Okada’s suggest that reskilling and lifelong learning may become key not only to personal fulfillment but also to strengthening the fabric of local communities.
https://newsonjapan.com/article/147173.php