Peter Thiel – billionaire venture capitalist, co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, and outspoken commentator on all things “Antichrist” – appears at least 2,200 times in the latest batch of dossiers released by the Department of Justice regarding convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The series of records show how Epstein managed to create a extensive network of wealthy and influential figures in Silicon Valley. Many of them, including Thiel, continued to contact Epstein even after his 2008 guilty plea to soliciting prostitution and soliciting prostitution from minors.
Up-to-date records show that Thiel arranged meetings with Epstein several times between 2014 and 2017. “What are you doing on Friday?” Thiel wrote to Epstein on April 5, 2016: “Should we try lunch?” Most of the communication between the two men in the data dump involves meal planning, phone calls, and meetings together. Thiel did not immediately respond to WIRED’s request for comment.
One piece of correspondence stands out as particularly bizarre. On February 3, 2016, Alisa Bekins, Thiel’s former chief of staff and senior assistant, sent an email with the subject line “Meeting – February 4 – 9:30 – Peter Thiel’s Dietary Restrictions – CONFIDENTIAL.” The original recipient of the email was redacted, but was later forwarded directly to Epstein.
Also the content of the message redacted in at least one version of the email chain released Friday by the Justice Department. However, two other files less information has been redacted from what appears to be the same set of messages.
In one email, Bekins listed approximately twenty approved types of sushi and animal protein, 14 approved vegetables, and 0 approved fruits for Thiel’s consumption. “Fresh herbs” and “olive oil” were allowed, but ketchup, mayonnaise and soy sauce were to be avoided. Only one specific meal was clearly specified: “egg whites or vegetables/salad with some form of protein,” such as steak, which Bekins attached “in case they eat breakfast.” It is unclear whether the February 4 meeting ultimately took place; Other emails indicate That day, Thiel was stuck in traffic on his way to meet Epstein.
According to A recording of an undated conversation between Epstein and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, which was also included in the files released Friday by the Justice Department, Epstein told Barak he hoped to meet with Thiel next week. He added that he knew Thiel’s company, Palantir, but began spelling it out thunderous in Barak’s name as “Pallentier.” Epstein speculated that Thiel might put Barak on Palantir’s board, although there is no evidence this ever happened.
“I’ve never met Peter Thiel and everyone says he’s jumping around and acting really weird, like he’s on drugs,” Epstein said at one point in the video, referring to Thiel. The former prime minister agreed with Epstein’s assessment.
In 2015 and 2016 He put Epstein down According to The Up-to-date York Times, $40 million in two funds managed by one of Thiel’s investment firms, Valar Ventures. Epstein and Thiel continued to communicate and recently discussed meeting January 2019– according to files made available by the Department of Justice. Epstein committed suicide in his cell in August this year.
Below are Thiel’s dietary restrictions as described in the February 2016 email. (The following list has been slightly reformatted for clarity.)