Epstein Data Wiki

Tom Pritzker

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tagsperson, business, hyatt, pritzker-organization, jpmorgan, giuffre-allegation
aliasesThomas J. Pritzker, Thomas Pritzker, Tom J. Pritzker

18 min read

OccupationChairman and chief executive officer, The Pritzker Organization, LLC; executive chairman of Hyatt Hotels Corporation until February 16, 202612
Relationship to EpsteinCorrespondent and social contact. Documents cited on this page run from 2002 to April 2019
In court recordsListed by plaintiff’s counsel as a potential witness in Giuffre v. Maxwell; identified by the court in November 2022 as the objector then proceeding as Doe 14434
ResponseA spokesperson said in January 2024 that he “continues to vehemently deny” the allegation recorded in a deposition errata sheet5

Tom Pritzker is a Chicago businessman, chairman and chief executive officer of The Pritzker Organization, LLC and, until February 16, 2026, executive chairman of Hyatt Hotels Corporation.12 He corresponded with Ghislaine Maxwell in 2002 and 2003 and exchanged messages with Jeffrey Epstein, among those cited here from 2011 to April 2019, arranged hotel reservations through his office for a traveller on Epstein’s behalf, and was, on Jes Staley’s sworn account, introduced to Staley by Epstein.6789 Plaintiff’s counsel in Giuffre v. Maxwell listed him in March 2016 among people said to have knowledge of Maxwell’s and Epstein’s conduct.3 In a sworn errata sheet signed in February 2016, correcting her deposition in a separate case, Virginia Giuffre added his name to a list of men she said she had been “sexually trafficked to”; a spokesperson said in January 2024 that he “continues to vehemently deny” the allegation, and in a deposition taken in February 2017 the deponent answered “No” when defence counsel asked her whether he was among Epstein’s friends and associates she had been “lent out” to at Epstein’s New York house.10511 He resigned as Hyatt’s executive chairman on February 16, 2026, telling the board in a letter that he “deeply regret[s]” his association with Epstein and Maxwell.212 Appearing in the released files is not evidence of wrongdoing, and nothing on this page is a finding of any.

Identification

The surname is shared. A full-text search of the released files for “Pritzker” alone returns matches that include the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the Illinois governor J. B. Pritzker in Bureau news briefings, Penny Pritzker, and Nicholas J. Pritzker, who corresponded with Epstein separately. This page uses the narrower variants “Tom Pritzker”, “Thomas Pritzker” and “Pritzker, Tom”. Most documents cited below print one of those forms in full. Two of them, the JPMorgan requests for admission and the Virgin Islands statement of material facts, black out his given name and identify him only by surname and by the office he holds, “Pritzker, chairman and CEO of the Pritzker Organization”; this page does not supply the given name into those documents.131415 The name used throughout is taken from documents that print it in full, among them the Staley deposition and Judge Preska’s ruling identifying him as Doe 144.94 His role is fixed at the page image by the signature block of his executive assistant, which reads “Executive Assistant to Tom Pritzker, Chairman & CEO / The Pritzker Organization, LLC”.1

Correspondence with Maxwell, 2002 and 2003

Maxwell wrote to him in April 2002 about hotel rooms in Hong Kong, and he replied that he was travelling in Asia.16 On April 12, 2003 she asked whether he would be in New York the following Tuesday because “JE is having a big dinner”, and described the guest list as “a 12 out of 10 - everyone you’d want + some - 24 people - Mandleson black, blaine brockman Jarecki, Stroll maybe chicken - + 5 models who are the serving girls”. He replied, “yes, but will maxwell be there?”, and two minutes later, “actually can’t we have Mandelsohn, Blaine, Black etc as the servers and the -+ 5 models as the guests? This would be far more fun.”617 The documents cited on this page record no comment from him on that exchange; his February 2026 letter to the Hyatt board, quoted below, addresses the association generally and not any particular message.12

A Vanity Fair article of March 2003 about Epstein listed “Tom Pritzker (of Hyatt Hotels)” among businessmen who dined at Epstein’s New York house.18

Contact after Epstein’s 2008 conviction

Correspondence between the two men appears throughout the decade after Epstein’s Florida conviction. In January 2010 a correspondent asked Epstein whether he had heard back “from Tom Pritzker” about a hospitality graduate who wanted to work for Hyatt in China.19 On July 14, 2011 Epstein asked him, “Is there a hotel type manager that could review and help restructure the operations of my island, houses etc..”; he replied the same day, “Don’t know, let me hunt. Gmax had asked me about this several years ago. I put her in touch with someone, but for reasons that I can’t remember, it didn’t work out.”7 In April 2014 his executive assistant sent Epstein’s office an invitation to the Pritzker Architecture Prize ceremony, which Lesley Groff declined on Epstein’s behalf.1

The exchanges continue into 2019. On March 2, 2019 Epstein wrote, “trying to keep my head down in a shit hurricane”; Pritzker replied, “You in NY? World is off axis. You saw Chicago mayoral, nuts.”; Epstein answered, “yes you?”; and Pritzker wrote, “Maybe breakfast on Tuesday? Have Investor day so need to sing for my supper.”20 His February 2026 letter to the Hyatt board, quoted below, addresses his association with Epstein generally and not any of these particular exchanges.12 The latest message between them found by the search described above is dated April 8, 2019.21

Hotel arrangements

On April 4, 2018 Epstein wrote to him: “karyna is going on an asian exploration first to bali and then kuaa lumpur and tokyo., can you help her the last two places. ?”8 He replied, “Yes. I can go with her ☺ Happy to help, what can I do?”; Epstein asked for “reservations for may 7-9 , malaysia , and 9 - 13 tokyo”; and he answered that his assistant would call Epstein’s office and make the reservations.22 On April 6 Karyna Shuliak, the traveller, thanked him, and the following day he asked, “What are you going to do there?” She answered, “Going to try to find a new girlfriend for Jeffrey”, to which he replied, “May the Force be with you.” The following day she wrote to him, “I was joking of course”, and said she was going to see a resort and meet architects because Epstein had ideas for his island.23 The documents cited here record nothing further from him on the point, beyond the general address in his February 2026 letter to the Hyatt board, quoted below.12

Introduction to JPMorgan

Staley, then a senior executive of JPMorgan Chase, testified that Epstein introduced the two men. In a deposition taken in Government of the Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase, Staley was asked whether he knew who Tom Pritzker was and answered “Yes”, agreed that Epstein had introduced them, and answered “I believe he did” when asked whether Pritzker had become a client of JPMorgan. Asked whether Epstein was paid for making the connection, Staley answered, “Not that I’m aware of, no”, and said he thought Epstein “valued his network of contacts”.9

Served with a request to admit that Epstein had referred him to JPMorgan’s private bank as a client or for additional activities or funds, Staley admitted the request; JPMorgan Chase, served with the same request, objected that the terms were vague and said it “denies knowledge of any purported referral”.1314 The Virgin Islands government put the referral in its statement of material facts; the bank disputed it, citing Staley’s testimony that “I don’t think [Epstein] referred clients to the bank. I met clients through him, but I don’t think he was making a referral.”15

The September 2014 meetings with Bill Gates

On September 4, 2014 Epstein proposed meeting Bill Gates “at the four season aroind 10 am” and then walking over to Leon Black at Apollo. Pritzker replied that he had to take off from Teterboro at 12:20, could “come in late Sunday, meet with Gates, then to airport”, thought it “probably more interesting to see Leon”, and suggested “the new Park Hyatt, which, is awesome, but I’m suspecting Bill is staying at the Four Seasons”. Epstein asked where the Park Hyatt was; Pritzker answered, “57th between 6th and 7th. I am fine w either. What’s topic w Gates.”24 The schedule circulated in Epstein’s office for Monday, September 8, 2014 begins “10:00am Meet Bill Gates and Tom Pritzker at the Park Hyatt”, followed by “11:30am Walk over to Leon Black’s office w/Bill Gates, Maybe Tom Pritzker”.25

Gates told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in June 2026 that he recalled the 10 a.m. meeting with Pritzker at the Park Hyatt, that Epstein had arranged the day’s meetings after Gates pressed him to identify people who would actually fund global health work, that “the other men I met that day were presented as potential givers”, and that none of them was close to committing substantial sums: “it was a complete disappointment from my point of view, even though it was all very friendly.”26

Virginia Giuffre’s allegation, and the unsealing proceedings

A list of witnesses disclosed by the plaintiff in Giuffre v. Maxwell was filed in that case as an exhibit on March 22, 2016. Entry 56 reads “Tom Pritzker”, with address and telephone number “unknown at this time”, and the description “Has knowledge of Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual trafficking conduct and interaction with underage minors.”3 That is a party’s designation of a potential witness and not an allegation against him.

Giuffre was deposed on January 16, 2016 in the defamation action brought against Alan Dershowitz by her lawyers. On February 11, 2016 she signed, under penalty of perjury, an errata sheet correcting that transcript. Against page 38, line 11, which answered the question “Were you sexually trafficked to anybody else on the list?”, she substituted: “I’ll continue with the list here. Nadia Marcinkova I was not sent to her, but she was part of it with Jeff Epstein. Others on the list include Marvin Minsky and Tom Pritzker.” Two further changes on the same transcript page read “Off the top of my head, once, but it could have been more” and “I believe Tom was at Mexico. I may have also been with him in other places.”10 The same entry also names Nadia Marcinkova and Marvin Minsky. No response from Marcinkova to that entry appears in the sources cited on this page. Minsky had died on January 24, 2016, eighteen days before the errata sheet was signed; no response from him exists and none could.27 A spokesperson for Pritzker told Reuters, as reported by CBS News Chicago on January 4, 2024, that he “continues to vehemently deny” the allegation.5

A deposition taken in Giuffre v. Maxwell on February 17, 2017 runs the other way on a narrower question. Asked who the “friends and associates” were to whom she had been “lent out” at Epstein’s town house, she named Dershowitz and one other person whose name the filed copy withholds, said “there weren’t any other men”, and answered “No” to each further name put to her, including “Tom Pritzker?”11 The two records are answers to different questions and are reported here as each stands.

In the litigation over unsealing the Giuffre v. Maxwell file, he proceeded as Doe 144. At a conference on November 18, 2022 Judge Loretta A. Preska granted the motion to unseal a document he had opposed, saying in open court: “Doe 144, Tom Pritzker, objects to the unsealing of this document on the ground that it may wrongfully harm his privacy and reputation. The document merely shows that a witness did not recall meeting a, quote, Tom Pritzker, name misspelled, but very similar. There is no basis for keeping this document under seal.”4

Named in the House record

On August 31, 2026 Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky was given permission to address the House for one minute. Saying that a year after the Epstein Files Transparency Act was signed the government “continues to withhold over 3 million files”, and that “we have introduced the Epstein Files Transparency Act II”, he went on: “We want perpetrators of these crimes to be investigated and prosecuted, men like:”. He then named thirteen men, among them “Tom Pritzker”, and one woman, and added: “Perhaps hearing these names will shame the Department of Justice into delivering justice.”28 That is a documented fact about the speech. It is a Member’s statement in the Congressional Record, not a charge, a referral, a finding or an action by any court or prosecutor, and being named in it is not evidence of anything. No response from him to it appears in the sources cited on this page.

Departure from Hyatt

On February 16, 2026 he notified the Hyatt board that he would retire as executive chairman with immediate effect and would not stand for re-election as a director at the 2026 annual meeting. Hyatt’s Form 8-K reports the retirement, states that he “will serve the remainder of his term as a director of the Company,” and states that the decision “was not the result of any disagreement with the Company on any matter relating to the Company’s operations, policies, or practices”; the company’s press release the same day announces the retirement, records his service as executive chairman since August 2004, and quotes him only on Hyatt’s prospects. Neither the filing nor the release mentions Epstein.229 HOTELSMag.com reported on February 17, 2026 that his letter to the board said: “Good stewardship also means protecting Hyatt, particularly in the context of my association with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell which I deeply regret”, and “I exercised terrible judgment in maintaining contact with them, and there is no excuse for failing to distance myself sooner.”12

Statements

  • April 12, 2003, to Maxwell, on the guest list for an Epstein dinner: “actually can’t we have Mandelsohn, Blaine, Black etc as the servers and the -+ 5 models as the guests? This would be far more fun.”17
  • July 14, 2011, to Epstein, on finding a manager for Epstein’s island and houses: “Don’t know, let me hunt.”7
  • September 4, 2014, to Epstein, on where to meet Gates: “Really we should meet at the new Park Hyatt, which, is awesome, but I’m suspecting Bill is staying at the Four Seasons.”24
  • April 4, 2018, to Epstein, on hotel reservations in Malaysia and Japan: “Happy to help, what can I do?”8
  • March 2, 2019, to Epstein: “Maybe breakfast on Tuesday?”20
  • November 18, 2022, through counsel, as recorded by the court: an objection to unsealing on the ground that it “may wrongfully harm his privacy and reputation”.4
  • January 2024, through a spokesperson, to Reuters, as reported by CBS News Chicago: he “continues to vehemently deny” the allegation.5
  • February 16, 2026, in a letter to the Hyatt board, as reported by HOTELSMag.com: “I exercised terrible judgment in maintaining contact with them, and there is no excuse for failing to distance myself sooner.”12

Official records

  • Giuffre v. Maxwell, S.D.N.Y. 15-cv-07433. Plaintiff’s witness disclosure naming him, filed as an exhibit in March 2016; deposition of February 17, 2017; the court’s unsealing rulings of November 18, 2022 naming him as Doe 144.3114
  • Deposition errata sheet, January 16, 2016 deposition, signed February 11, 2016. Filed in Giuffre v. Maxwell as an exhibit.10
  • Government of the Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase, S.D.N.Y. 22-cv-10904. Requests for admission and responses by Staley and by the bank; the Virgin Islands statement of material facts and the bank’s response; the Staley deposition exhibit.1314159
  • U.S. House of Representatives. Congressional Record, August 31, 2026, page H5349.28
  • U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Form 8-K filed February 17, 2026, and the press release filed as Exhibit 99.1.229
  • House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Transcribed interview of Bill Gates, June 10, 2026.26

Coverage

  • CBS News Chicago, Marissa Perlman, “Thomas Pritzker, Hyatt billionaire and governor’s cousin, named in Jeffrey Epstein documents”, January 4, 2024.5
  • HOTELSMag.com, David Eisen, “Tom Pritzker steps down as chairman of Hyatt Hotels in wake of Epstein links”, February 17, 2026.12

Footnotes

  1. Email chain, The Pritzker Organization to Lesley Groff, April 21 and 25, 2014, “Pritzker Prize 2014”, carrying the signature block “Executive Assistant to Tom Pritzker, Chairman & CEO / The Pritzker Organization, LLC”. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02107148 p.1. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  2. Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Form 8-K, Items 5.02 and 7.01, event date February 16, 2026, filed February 17, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1468174/000110465926015532/tm266532d1_8k.htm ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  3. Plaintiff’s witness disclosure, entry 56, filed as Exhibit C to Doc. 65 in Giuffre v. Maxwell, S.D.N.Y. 15-cv-07433, March 22, 2016. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02780718 p.12. Nothing else on that page is cited here. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  4. Transcript of conference before Hon. Loretta A. Preska, Giuffre v. Maxwell, S.D.N.Y. 15-cv-07433, November 18, 2022, filed as Doc. 1283 on December 2, 2022, p.7. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02789259 p.7. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  5. Marissa Perlman, “Thomas Pritzker, Hyatt billionaire and governor’s cousin, named in Jeffrey Epstein documents”, CBS News Chicago, January 4, 2024. https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/thomas-pritzker-hyatt-billionaire-jeffrey-epstein-documents/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  6. Email, Tom Pritzker to G. Max, April 12, 2003, 3:22 p.m., quoting the message it answers. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02332567 p.1. ↩ ↩2

  7. Email, Tom Pritzker to Jeffrey Epstein, July 14, 2011, quoting Epstein’s message of the same day. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01986553 p.1. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  8. Email chain, Jeffrey Epstein and Tom Pritzker, April 4 and 5, 2018, forwarded by his executive assistant. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02243173 pp.1-2. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  9. Deposition of Jes Staley, Government of the Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase, N.A., S.D.N.Y. 22-cv-10904 (JSR), filed as Exhibit 46 to Doc. 238-21 on July 25, 2023, transcript pp.310-311. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02810739 pp.24-25. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  10. Deposition errata sheet for the videotaped deposition of January 16, 2016, signed February 11, 2016, filed as an exhibit to Doc. 1106-1 in Giuffre v. Maxwell on August 24, 2020. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02783064 pp.4, 6. The wording of the questions the changes answer is taken from the transcript itself at https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02786319 p.39. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  11. Deposition of the plaintiff in Giuffre v. Maxwell, February 17, 2017, filed as Doc. 1296-10 on December 12, 2022, transcript pp.309-310. The copy cited withholds the deponent’s name. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02789707 pp.310-311. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  12. David Eisen, “Tom Pritzker steps down as chairman of Hyatt Hotels in wake of Epstein links”, HOTELSMag.com, February 17, 2026. https://hotelsmag.com/news/tom-pritzker-steps-down-as-chairman-of-hyatt-hotels-in-wake-of-epstein-links/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  13. Jes Staley’s responses and objections to requests for admission, Request and Response No. 49, filed as Doc. 263-20 on August 7, 2023. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02812849 p.7. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  14. JPMorgan Chase’s responses and objections to requests for admission, Request and Response No. 31, filed as Doc. 238-14 on July 25, 2023. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02810650 p.12. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  15. Statement of material facts and responses, paragraph 290, Government of the Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase, filed as Doc. 271-1 on August 7, 2023. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02814627 p.95. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  16. Email, Tom Pritzker to G Max, April 4, 2002. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02335884 p.1. ↩

  17. Email, Tom Pritzker to G. Max, April 12, 2003, 3:24 p.m. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02332568 p.1. ↩ ↩2

  18. Vanity Fair, March 2003, p.302, in the copy produced in the release. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01334040 p.3. Nothing else on that page is cited here. ↩

  19. Email forwarded to Epstein, January 18, 2010, and the December 30, 2009 message it forwards. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02432121 p.1 and https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00765072 p.1. No detail identifying the applicant is reproduced here. ↩

  20. Email chain, Tom Pritzker and Jeffrey Epstein, March 2, 2019. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02633154 p.1. The messages are dated from the order in which the chain quotes them; the header clocks in this export are not all in one time zone. ↩ ↩2

  21. Email, Jeffrey Epstein to Tom Pritzker, April 8, 2019. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02634889 p.1. ↩

  22. Email, Tom Pritzker to Jeffrey Epstein, April 4, 2018, 5:36 p.m. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02305821 p.3. ↩

  23. Email chain, Karyna Shuliak and Tom Pritzker, April 6 to 8, 2018. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02305821 pp.1-2. ↩

  24. Email chain, Tom Pritzker and Jeffrey Epstein, September 4, 2014. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01750012 p.1. ↩ ↩2

  25. Schedule email to Jeffrey Epstein, September 5, 2014, setting out Monday, September 8, 2014. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00363549 p.1. ↩

  26. Interview of William H. Gates, III, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, June 10, 2026, pp.96-99. https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Bill-Gates-Transcript.pdf ↩ ↩2

  27. “Marvin Minsky, ‘father of artificial intelligence,’ dies at 88,” MIT News, Jan 25, 2016. https://news.mit.edu/2016/marvin-minsky-obituary-0125 ↩

  28. “Bring Epstein Perpetrators to Justice”, remarks of Mr. Massie, Congressional Record, vol. 172, no. 137 (August 31, 2026), House, p. H5349. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2026-08-31/html/CREC-2026-08-31-pt1-PgH5349-3.htm ↩ ↩2

  29. Hyatt Hotels Corporation press release, February 16, 2026, “Hyatt Announces Thomas J. Pritzker Retires as Executive Chairman and Will Not Seek Re-Election to Board of Directors”, filed as Exhibit 99.1 to the Form 8-K. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1468174/000110465926015532/tm266532d1_ex99-1.htm ↩ ↩2

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