By MICHELLE CHAPMAN, AP Business Writer
Thomas Pritzker will retire as the executive chairman of Hyatt Hotels after details of his affiliation with Jeffrey Epstein were revealed in documents related to the burgeoning investigation of ties the notorious sex trafficker had to the elite and powerful.
Pritzker, in a prepared statement, said he deeply regrets his association with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime associate of Epstein.
“I exercised terrible judgment in maintaining contact with them, and there is no excuse for failing to distance myself sooner,” Pritzker said in a statement. “I condemn the actions and the harm caused by Epstein and Maxwell and I feel deep sorrow for the pain they inflicted on their victims.”
Some emails between Pritzker and Epstein are included in a cache of Epstein-related documents recently released by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Epstein died by suicide while incarcerated in 2019 after he was charged with sex trafficking.
Pritzker served as executive chairman of Hyatt for more than 20 years. His retirement is effective immediately.
Pritzker, 75, also will not stand for reelection to Hyatt’s board at its annual shareholders meeting.
The news of Pritzker’s retirement as executive chairman of Hyatt comes days after Dubai announced a new chairman for logistics company DP World, replacing the outgoing head who was named in the Epstein documents.
The announcement by the government’s Dubai Media Office did not specifically name Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem. However, it said that Essa Kazim was named DP World’s chairman and Yuvraj Narayan was named group CEO. Those were positions held by bin Sulayem.