Thomas Pritzker, the cousin of Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, stepped down as executive chairman of the Hyatt Hotels Corporation on Monday over his ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) released nearly 3 million files on Feb. 1 which included information that Pritzker frequently kept in contact with Epstein in the years following his 2008 plea deal related to his 2006 prostitution charges. Pritzker sent a letter to the board announcing his departure and said he deeply regrets having any association with Epstein or his former business partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, The New York Times reported.
“Good stewardship also means protecting Hyatt, particularly in the context of my association with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell which I deeply regret,” Pritzker wrote, according to the Times.
Bloomberg: Hyatt Hotels billionaire Executive Chairman Tom Pritzker resigns, citing association with Epstein
— Travis Akers
(@travisakers) February 16, 2026
(@travisakers) Pritzker and Epstein repeatedly corresponded to plan meals and appointments, including at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse, according to the Times. In 2018, Epstein asked Pritzker over email to help his girlfriend, Karyna Shuliak, arrange a trip to Southeast Asia so she could “find a new girlfriend” for Epstein.
When Shuliak replied what she planned to do on the trip, Pritzker replied with a smiley-face emoji and said, “May the force be with you,” according to the Times.
In another email from 2015, Epstein joked to Pritzker about combining their plans and also discussed their invitations to a ceremony to the Pulitzer Prizes.
Epstein was first indicted on prostitution charges in 2006 following an investigation that began in March 2005 into his inappropriate conduct with the teenage girl in question.
Pritzker also told the board he would not seek reelection at the annual stockholders meeting in May, according to the Times.
Pritzker’s cousin, the Illinois governor, has an estimated$3.9 billion net worth largely from the family’s business and has been floated as a possible 2028 presidential candidate. He has resisted President Donald Trump’s efforts to deploy the National Guard to Chicago and has fought against the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda.
The Pritzker family is one of the richest in the world, with 11 billionaires who derived their income in part from the Hyatt hotel empire which Jay Pritzker began with the purchase of a Los Angeles hotel in 1957, according to Business Insider.
The files also showed that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick interacted with Epstein on at least two occasions between 2011 and 2012, which included a lunch on a boat while the Lutnicks were on vacation. They also showed correspondence between Epstein and former White House adviser Steve Bannon between 2018 and 2019 and a photograph of former Prince Andrew kneeling on all fours over a woman.
Epstein also alleged in an unsent email that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates contracted a sexually transmitted disease from a Russian hooker and sought to secretly give his then-wife, Melinda, treatment. Gates denied ever going to Epstein’s island or meeting with any women.
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