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MIT Media Lab founder Nicholas Negroponte.
- The Massachusetts Institute of Technology accepted over $800,000 in donations from Jeffrey Epstein's foundations, according to a letter sent to faculty on August 23 by MIT president L. Rafael Reif.
- The admission comes amid multiple resignations from MIT Media Lab faculty who quit after learning of the Media Lab's director Joichi Ito's connections to Jeffrey Epstein. Ito reportedly accepted over $200,000 in funding through Epstein's charities.
- In an all-hands meeting held at MIT Media Lab on Wednesday, founder Nicholas Negroponte defended accepting funding from Epstein. "If you wind back the clock, I would still say, 'Take it,'" the MIT Technology Review reported on Thursday.
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One of America's most prestigious schools, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, accepted over $800,000 in donations from Jeffrey Epstein's foundations, and the founder of MIT Media Lab said in a staff meeting he would do it again if given the chance.
Epstein was arrested July 6 on suspicion of sex trafficking minors. He was being held without bail awaiting trial on charges of conspiracy and sex trafficking. On August 10 Epstein died by suicide while being held at Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center.
"Over the course of 20 years, MIT received approximately $800,000 via foundations controlled by Jeffrey Epstein," MIT president L. Rafael Reif said in a letter sent to faculty in late August. A substantial portion of the funding came through MIT Media Lab and its director Joichi Ito, who admitted to accepting over $500,000 for MIT's Media Lab from Epstein. Ito also allowed Epstein to invest in his tech-focused investment funds outside of MIT.
On Wednesday, MIT Media Lab founder Nicholas Negroponte defended that decision during a Media Lab all-hands meeting. "If you wind back the clock, I would still say, 'Take it,'" he said, according to reporting by the MIT Technology Review.
Reuters
Jeffrey Epstein looks on during a status hearing in his sex trafficking case, in this court sketch in New York.
According to the report, the meeting went off the rails at this point.
"A woman in the front row began crying," it says. "Kate Darling, a research scientist at the MIT Media Lab, shouted, 'Nicholas, shut up!' Negroponte responded that he would not shut up and that he had founded the Lab, to which Darling said, 'We've been cleaning up your messes for the past eight years.'"
The meeting reportedly ended soon after.
Negroponte did not respond to a request for comment as of publishing, but he told the Boston Globe, "Yes, we are embarrassed and regret taking his money."
Check out the full story on MIT Technology Review right here.