After a disgraced exit from the top ranks of U.S. tech and media circles, an entrepreneur who had deep ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein secured a second act in Japan with the help of powerful allies in the Japanese government.
Joichi Ito, the entrepreneur, resigned in 2019 from a prominent position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after revelations about his efforts to conceal millions of dollars he raised through connections to Epstein. He also quit a position at Harvard University and board seats at the MacArthur Foundation and The New York Times.
Six years later, in Japan, Ito is helping lead a government initiative championed by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and her inner circle. The project, a strategic priority for the government, has more than $400 million in public funding and seeks to team up with top U.S. and Japanese universities to create a startup hub in Tokyo.
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