Epstein’s ties with MIT further revealed in latest DOJ document release
MIT named a third contingent beneficiary in Epstein’s 2014 Trust
News Staff–The Tech
On Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice released around three million pages of documentation pertaining to the case of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. These new documents, in addition to files released by the U.S. House Oversight Committee in November, further clarify the relationship between Epstein and the Institute.
Background
From 2002 to 2017, Jeffrey Epstein donated $850,000 to MIT. In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to procuring a child for prostitution and to soliciting a prostitute. Later, in July 2019, Epstein was arrested again on federal charges for the sex trafficking of minors in Florida and New York. He died in detention a month later, allegedly from suicide.
Former director of the MIT Media Lab Joi Ito resigned when revelations over Epstein’s support of projects at the Media Lab came to light in 2019. Additionally, as shown by a 2020 investigation by the law firm Goodwin Procter into Epstein’s relationship with MIT, Professor of Mechanical Engineering Seth Lloyd received research funding, went to Epstein’s private island, and visited Epstein while he was in prison. Following the investigation, Lloyd was put on paid administrative leave. However, Lloyd retains his tenured professorship.
Former President of MIT Rafael Reif signed a letter thanking Epstein for a donation in 2012, just six weeks into his presidency. In a statement to MIT released in 2019, Reif stated that Ito “asked for permission to retain this initial gift, and members of my senior team allowed it.” Epstein’s gifts were also “discussed at at least one of MIT’s regular senior team meetings,” with Reif present.
In addition to Ito and Lloyd, the 2020 report named several with ties to the Institute, most of whom were connected to the Media Lab or Media Arts and Sciences (MAS). Current MAS faculty include Neil Gershenfeld and Ed Boyden ’98 (also affiliated with Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Biological Engineering). Other individuals mentioned, some of whom have since departed MIT, include Linda Stone, Marvin Minsky (a pioneer in artificial intelligence), Neri Oxman (wife of billionaire Bill Ackman), Joscha Bach, and Caleb Harper. Professor Eric Lander, a pioneering geneticist who was not mentioned in the report, also met with Epstein in 2012.
The Tech has verified that all of the aforementioned individuals were mentioned in the recent release of files.
The trust
In Section 2.4, “Balance of the Trust Estate,” of Epstein’s 2014 Trust — a document naming Epstein’s financial beneficiaries — MIT is named a third contingent and final beneficiary of the remaining trust following distributions described in previous sections. The gift was to be titled “The Jeffrey E. Epstein Fund,” and was stated “to provide financial aid for graduate and undergraduate students attending MIT.”
MIT undergraduate met with Epstein on Stone and Ito’s recommendation
A 2014 email sent from Linda Stone to Epstein, with Ito copied, stated, “Both Joi and I think you’d find this guy super interesting.” The individual was Jeremy Rubin ’16, who was and still is presently involved in Bitcoin research and cryptocurrency. Rubin appears to have later met with Epstein on several occasions as early as 2014 and as recently as 2018.
Within the newly released files, Rubin and Epstein exchanged emails with regards to cryptocurrency. In one exchange dated August 2018, Epstein gave advice to Rubin, writing, “there seems to be a disconnect between manipulation, currency valuation, it’s how to protect ourselves. not easy.”
Neil Gershenfeld
According to the 2020 report, Gershenfeld, a physicist and computer scientist, met with Epstein during several MIT campus visits in 2013. Gershenfeld later accepted an invitation to dine at Epstein’s home. The report also stated that there was no evidence that Epstein interacted with students during those visits, and some follow-up meetings were later canceled.
In one exchange dated 2014 between Gershenfeld and Epstein that was released in November by the House Oversight Committee, Gershenfeld wrote to Epstein to confirm “lunch” in his office. Appearing to reference future celebrations, Gershenfeld added, “sunglasses and beach balls [are] optional” and that “hopefully this will be a warm-up for meeting in more entertaining venues.”
Ed Boyden
Following the 2020 report, Boyden, a neuroscientist, issued a statement in an attempt to clarify his relationship with Epstein. He wrote that he regretted attending meetings with Epstein, both on and off campus, despite “knowing that Epstein had been convicted of a serious crime,” and he asserted that all meetings were solely for research.
The 2020 report stated, “Professor Boyden told us that he did remember visiting Epstein off-campus on at least five specific occasions to discuss his research and potential funding.” The Justice Department’s files shed some new light on this relationship. In one email dated 2013, Boyden accepted an offer from Epstein’s assistant to visit the sex offender’s New Mexico ranch with Harvard Professor Martin Nowak. Emails between Nowak and Epstein from 2014 show Epstein responding, “did you torture her” to a message from Nowak that read, “our spy was captured after completing her mission.”
Moreover, in emails between Boyden, Epstein, and Ito from 2015, Boyden wrote that he was enthusiastic to meet the “coaches” Epstein and Ito had mentioned. Subsequently, Epstein joked in private with Ito about if the coach Boyden needed was “the ‘pitch’ coach, or the how to pick women coach.”
Linda Stone
The 2020 report stated that Joi Ito was initially referred to Epstein by former MIT Media Lab Advisory Council Member Linda Stone.
The recently released files seem to show that Epstein and Stone maintained friendly relations. In an email dated 2010, Epstein wrote in response to a meeting suggestion by Stone that “you always have my support for any inter[e]sting meeting.” In another email dated 2012, Stone asked Epstein for recommendations on traveling in the Caribbean on the behalf of a friend. Epstein’s enigmatic answer: “Let’s talk on the phone, what activities…”
In a note that Stone sent to Epstein in October 2016, Stone wrote, “Trump is owning the headlines this weekend?” Epstein did not respond.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
A correction was made on Feb. 6, 2026: An earlier version of this article mentioned Daniel Hillis ’78 PhD ’88 and Ethan Zuckerman in the background section. While they were indeed mentioned in the 2020 report and in the new batch of Epstein files, further investigation by The Tech has led to the conclusion that these individuals were not directly involved with Epstein and therefore are not immediately relevant to the new developments. The article has been updated to remove those references and correct a misspelling of Joscha Bach.