J.B. Pritzker

Jay Robert “J.B.” Pritzker is the 43rd Governor of Illinois, having taken office on January 14, 2019. He is a member of the Pritzker family, which founded and controls the Hyatt hotel chain, and before entering politics he co-founded the investment firm Pritzker Group Private Capital with his brother Anthony. His name surfaced in connection with the Jeffrey Epstein matter not through any document authored by or about Epstein, but through testimony given by former President Bill Clinton.

Clinton was named in connection with Pritzker during a closed-door deposition before the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Per the Chicago Sun-Times and Capitol News Illinois, while describing donors and supporters who had traveled with him to observe the Clinton Foundation’s work, Clinton said, “I think that I had my first trip for the man who’s now the governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, and his wife,” adding, “They helped me get started.” Republicans on the committee released video of the testimony in early March 2026. Clinton’s office moved quickly to characterize the remark as mistaken: spokesperson Angel Ureña stated that Pritzker had joined a 2008 Clinton Foundation trip aboard a plane donated by Google, and that the governor was “Not on Epstein’s plane. Not with Epstein. Not with Maxwell,” according to the Sun-Times and Capitol News Illinois.

Pritzker himself flatly denied any relationship with Epstein. As reported by Capitol News Illinois and the Chicago Sun-Times, he said, “No, I have never, had never met Jeffrey Epstein. I was never on Jeffrey Epstein’s plane,” and added that he had “never even heard of Jeffrey Epstein until obviously the scandal that broke out in 2019.” He called Clinton “clearly mistaken” and said his staff had confirmed the 2008 plane belonged to Google. Separately, J.B. Pritzker’s cousin, Thomas Pritzker, retired as executive chairman of Hyatt Hotels in February 2026 after the disclosure of emails between Thomas Pritzker and Epstein; per PBS NewsHour, Thomas Pritzker said he “exercised terrible judgment in maintaining contact” with Epstein and Maxwell. The two men are distinct individuals, and the documented email correspondence with Epstein concerns Thomas Pritzker, not J.B. Pritzker.

Is J.B. Pritzker in the Epstein files?

Based on the sources reviewed for this profile, J.B. Pritzker is not documented as appearing in Epstein’s own records, flight logs, or correspondence. Reporting on the released files references “Tom Pritzker” (Thomas Pritzker) in connection with Epstein emails, not J.B. Pritzker. The governor’s name entered the public record on this topic solely through Bill Clinton’s House Oversight deposition — testimony that Clinton’s office described as mistaken and that Pritzker denied, stating he never met Epstein, never flew on his plane, and was never aboard any aircraft with Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell. Being named in this context is not evidence of wrongdoing; the available reporting indicates the reference was an error that was corrected by Clinton’s office.