Longtime Beta Technologies board member Dean Kamen resigned Wednesday following revelations that he had visited Jeffrey Epstein's private Caribbean island and communicated with the wealthy sex offender in the years following Epstein's 2008 conviction.
The Vermont electric aviation company disclosed Kamen's departure in a regulatory filing on Thursday morning. The brief document described Kamen's resignation as voluntary in order to "avoid potential distractions" for the startup.
Kamen took a leave of absence from Beta's board and stepped back from his own businesses two weeks ago, following the latest release of Epstein case files by the U.S. Department of Justice. At the time, Beta said it had hired a law firm to review the case files.
The announcement Thursday stated that Kamen had cooperated with the firm but that his resignation "concludes the review," which "did not identify any violations of the law."
Kamen, best known for inventing the Segway personal transporter, joined Beta's board of directors in 2021. He owns more than $15 million worth of company stock.
Kamen's own businesses are headquartered in Manchester, N.H. One of them, the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute, has funneled millions of public dollars to Beta to install aircraft chargers at airports around the country. ARMI is a nonprofit that seeks to develop artificial human tissues and organs.
Kamen also sold Beta his 11-seat private jet in 2023 for $7.25 million. It's the same jet he used to fly to the U.S. Virgin Islands to visit Epstein in 2013, several years before Beta was founded.
"Mr. Kamen has been a valued member of the Board and contributed significantly to the Company over many years through his guidance, leadership, and investment," Beta's announcement stated, "as well as through his broader impact on advancing innovation, science, and engineering."
Beta Technologies, headquartered at the Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport, went public on the New York Stock Exchange last fall. It is one of several companies competing to bring small electric aircraft to market.
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