In 2014, venture capitalist Peter Thiel was rising to prominence as one of Silicon Valley’s most successful entrepreneurs and investors. He made billions as co-founder and chairman of PayPal and Palantir. He then joined Facebook’s board of directors and became the company’s first outside investor.
That made him an ideal contact for convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who had a knack for building wealth and power.
Mr. Thiel appears to have met with Mr. Epstein several times that year, according to the schedule records of the disgraced investor reviewed by The New York Times.
Records in the form of emails sent by Mr. Epstein’s assistant to Mr. Epstein to remind him of upcoming events show Mr. Thiel will meet with Mr. Epstein on at least three occasions, one-on-one, in September 2014. shows that it was Meetings and socializing with others over lunch or dinner. On two other occasions, Mr. Thiel was listed among a dozen celebrities Mr. Epstein should try to meet while at his New York mansion.
It is unclear from the records whether all meetings with Thiel took place. Some were listed as tentative or “undecided” (meaning “undecided”).
Mr. Thiel’s spokesman, Jeremiah Hall, declined to comment.
The Times obtained the records through a public records request to the Attorney General of the U.S. Virgin Islands, which sued Epstein’s property. (Epstein died in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.) Records show that Thiel had a closer relationship with Epstein than previously known. there is a possibility.
After being convicted in Florida in 2008 of soliciting prostitution from a teenage girl, Epstein continued to interact with financial leaders, investors, scientists, professors, politicians and celebrities. rice field.
Epstein was fascinated by the tech industry and attended conferences with high-profile industry executives. For example, in 2015, LinkedIn founder Reed Hoffman invited him to a dinner attended by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and others. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. and Mr Thiel. (For dinner, Previously reported by Axios.)
The Times-reviewed record, which began in 2011, is not a comprehensive record of Epstein’s visits. It doesn’t cover every day, even a whole year is missing. (Some of the calendar entries were previously reported by The Wall Street Journal in connection with other individuals.)
Epstein was tentatively scheduled to have lunch with Thiel on Sept. 14, 2014, according to records. Later, the schedule was changed, and Mr. Thiel was scheduled to have an appointment in the afternoon, followed by a dinner with Mr. Epstein and director Woody Allen. Thiel was scheduled to have lunch with financiers the next day and the following weekend, according to records.
It’s unclear why Mr. Thiel met with Mr. Epstein. At the time, Thiel was on Facebook’s board of directors, overseeing Founders Fund, a top venture capital firm. Thiel was also chairman of Palantir, a CIA-backed data analytics firm that was seeking outside investment at the time.
Two years later, Thiel became Silicon Valley’s most prominent investor in helping Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign succeed.
Thiel’s name appears in calendar entries far less frequently than other celebrities such as Wall Street investor Leon Black. He is said to have been a frequent visitor for breakfast and lunch.
