WEF chief resigns after Epstein ties scrutinized

ZURICH/NEW YORK — The president and CEO of the World Economic Forum, Borge Brende, said on Thursday he was stepping down, a few weeks after the forum launched an independent investigation into his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Brende, who became president of the WEF in 2017, announced his decision in a statement following disclosures from the United States Department of Justice that showed the Norwegian had three business dinners with Epstein and had also communicated with the now-deceased financier via email and text message.

"After careful consideration, I have decided to step down as President and CEO of the World Economic Forum. My time here, spanning 8-1/2 years, has been profoundly rewarding," he said.

"I am grateful for the incredible collaboration with my colleagues, partners, and constituents, and I believe now is the right moment for the Forum to continue its important work without distractions," said Brende, a former Norwegian foreign minister. Brende made no mention of Epstein.

In a separate statement, Andre Hoffmann and Larry Fink, cochairs of the Geneva-based forum that organizes the annual Davos summit in Switzerland, said the independent review conducted by outside counsel into Brende's ties with Epstein had concluded.

The findings stated there were no additional concerns beyond what had been previously disclosed, it added.

The cochairs said the WEF's Alois Zwinggi will serve as interim president and CEO, and that the forum's Board of Trustees will oversee the leadership transition, including a plan to drive a process to identify a permanent successor.

In another development, former US Treasury secretary Larry Summers resigned from his position at Harvard University over his links to Epstein, the Ivy League institution said on Wednesday.

Summers, who ran the Treasury under former president Bill Clinton, was revealed in the Epstein files released by the Justice Department to have had extensive exchanges with the disgraced financier.

Clinton will testify before a congressional committee on Epstein on Friday while his wife, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, will appear on Thursday.

"Harvard Kennedy School Dean Jeremy Weinstein has accepted Professor Lawrence H. Summers' resignation from his leadership position as codirector of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government," the university said, noting the move was linked to the Epstein case.

"Professor Summers has announced that he will retire from his academic and faculty appointments at Harvard at the end of this academic year and will remain on leave until that time," it added.

In a previous video clip that went viral, Summers, who taught government at the prestigious university's Kennedy School, expressed regret to his students over his ties to Epstein.

"You will have seen my statement of regret expressing my shame with respect to what I did in communication with Mr Epstein," he said.

In November, Summers said he was "stepping back" from public commitments after Congress released emails showing close communication between him and Epstein.

Summers served as Harvard president from 2001 to 2006 and previously held senior government positions, including US Treasury secretary and director of the National Economic Council.

He also previously resigned from the board of the OpenAI foundation over the disclosures.

Agencies - Xinhua