TOKYO (TR) – Joi Ito, whose name has been mentioned in recent weeks due to his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein, will be stepping down from his position as senior executive vice president at Digital Garage, Inc., the tech company said on Friday.
In the announcement posted on its web site, Digital Garage said that Ito, 59, will be stepping down from his post on March 31. As well, he will retire as director at the conclusion of the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders scheduled to be held in June. No reason for the changes was provided.
Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice released 3 million pages of documents on Epstein, who committed suicide under mysterious circumstances in 2019 after being indicted on charges including sex trafficking.
Among the documents released were numerous emails with Ito, who served as director of the MIT Media Lab until his resignation in 2019 after Epstein’s monetary contributions to the lab became public.
Following the release of the documents, Ito has maintained that he “did not know that Mr. Jeffrey Epstein had engaged in the malicious criminal acts that have been reported.”
Founded in 1995
Ito co-founded Digital Garage in 1995. It initially focused on digital marketing and web production. It has since shifted its business toward digital payments.
Since 2023, Ito has served as president of Chiba Institute of Technology. Earlier this month, the the institute said that after conducting background checks into Ito they found “no problems” with him serving as president.
Also this month, the hacking conference Def Con announced the banning of Ito from participating in the event due to his ties to Epstein. The conference is scheduled to be held in Las Vegas, Nevada between August 6 and 9.
