Tom Pritzker, the billionaire chairman of the global hospitality giant Hyatt Hotels Corporation, has announced that he is stepping down from the company’s board and leadership on February 16.
This announcement comes as the release of the new tranche of the Epstein files linked Pritzker to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Pritzker said in a statement that he deeply regretted his past associations and that stepping down was part of “good stewardship” to safeguard the company’s reputation.
“I exercised terrible judgment in maintaining contact with them, and there is no excuse for failing to distance myself sooner,” he said.
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Is Tom Pritzker related to Gov. J.B. Pritzker?
Tom Pritzker is a member of the renowned Pritzker family in Chicago, known for its extensive business holdings and political influence.
Tom Pritzker is one of the Pritzker clan’s thirteen rich heirs. Tom Pritzker’s father, Jay Pritzker, acquired the first Hyatt property in 1957 and built the hotel empire over the decades.
According to Chicago Tribune, Governor of Illinois, J.B. Pritzker and Tom Pritzker are cousins; however, both operate in different spheres. Tom is in global corporate hospitality, and J.B. is in political leadership and state governance.
Tom Pritzker had already been mentioned in relation to Epstein. Virginia Giuffre, an Epstein victim, stated in her 2016 testimony that she was forced to have sex with him. Her accusation has since been refuted by Tom Pritzker, Chicago Tribune reported.
When Tom Pritzker’s name first surfaced in court documents pertaining to Jeffrey Epstein in 2019, Governor Pritzker stated that he was “unaware if [Thomas Pritzker] knew Jeffrey Epstein at all. And, as you know, I did not.”
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Mention in Epstein Files
In the trove of documents released by the House Oversight Committee in 2025, Epstein and Pritzker, the cousin of Governor J.B. Pritzker, had at least 20 back-and-forth emails in which the two discussed current affairs and planned to meet.
It appears from many of the messages that they had a close relationship. In 2013, Epstein sent an email saying, “nice to see you, please come more often,” following a discussion of a news story on Penny Pritzker, his cousin and a former US secretary of commerce. In response, Tom Pritzker said, “Always fun.”
In a 2017 text message to an unnamed receiver, Epstein also said that Tom Pritzker was “like family.”