Billionaire mega-donor Reid Hoffman is one of the many famous people to have visited Jeffrey Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean even after the billionaire investor became a convicted pedophile.
On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that it had obtained thousands of pages of Epstein’s schedules and emails from 2013 to 2017, which revealed new information about some of the wealthy and powerful people who remained in contact with Epstein long after his 2008 conviction for soliciting underage prostitutes.
While many of the names in the documents are people already known to have associated with Epstein, some new details emerged, including details about LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman.
According to the documents, Hoffman visited Epstein’s Caribbean island, Little St. James, both in March 2014 and November 2014.
During the November trip, Hoffman and MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito were scheduled to fly with Epstein from Palm Beach to Little St. James for a weekend MIT fundraiser. The three were then to fly to Boston together.
In an email to the Wall Street Journal, the LinkedIn founder said he only visited Epstein’s island home to attend an MIT fundraising event at the invitation of Joi Ito. Expressing regret for meeting with Epstein, Hoffman said, “It gnaws at me” that helping Epstein’s reputation “delayed justice for his survivors.”
Hoffman appeared to place the blame on Ito, telling the Journal that he “relied on MIT’s endorsement” when he agreed to attend the Little St. James fundraiser, adding that he “made a mistake.” Hoffman apologized for his “personal misjudgment.”
Joi Ito told the Wall Street Journal that Hoffman had attended several MIT fundraising events at his request, including the one held at Epstein’s island residence. He said he confirmed to Hoffman that Jeffrey Epstein was one of MIT’s approved donor targets.
According to the Wall Street Journal, after Epstein was arrested again in 2019, Joi Ito resigned from MIT and apologized for accepting funds from him.
