Thomas Pritzker, the 75-year-old billionaire heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune, resigned as executive chairman of Hyatt Hotels Corporation on Monday amid mounting fallout from his inclusion in the recently released Epstein files.
“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 in his resignation letter to the board. “I exercised terrible judgment in maintaining contact with them, and there is no excuse for failing to distance myself sooner.”
The Email Exchanges
The Epstein files revealed Pritzker maintained regular email contact with Epstein well after the financier’s 2008 plea deal for sex crimes. In one 2018 exchange, Epstein asked Pritzker to help his girlfriend Karyna Shuliak arrange a trip to Southeast Asia. When Shuliak wrote she was “going to try to find a new girlfriend for Jeffrey,” Pritzker replied with a smiley face and “May the Force be with you.”
In a 2015 exchange, Epstein joked about combining plans: “would you find it amusing to have dali lama meet woody allen for lunch on sat = could be a memorable event.”
Wider Fallout
Pritzker — who first became Hyatt’s chairman and CEO in 1999 — is a cousin of Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, another heir to the Hyatt fortune widely seen as a potential 2028 presidential candidate. Thomas Pritzker has not been formally accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.
His resignation follows a pattern of high-profile departures triggered by the Epstein files. Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem was recently replaced as head of DP World after lawmakers linked him to an Epstein “torture” email.
⚡ Why it matters: The Epstein files continue to claim corporate scalps at the highest levels, forcing boards to weigh reputational risk against executive tenure.
📊 By the numbers:
- Pritzker served as Hyatt chairman/CEO since 1999 — 27 years
- Emails spanned years after Epstein’s 2008 plea deal
- Multiple high-profile resignations linked to file releases
🔗 Sources: Mediaite, New York Times
