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Topline
Billionaire Paypal and Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel may have had multiple meetings with late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein almost a decade ago, the New York Times reported Thursday—another addition to a growing list of billionaires with connections to Epstein.
Entrepreneur and venture capitalist Peter Thiel visits “FOX & Friends” at Fox News Channel Studios … [+]
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Key Facts
The Times reviewed emails from Epstein’s assistant indicating he was set to meet with Thiel at least three times in September 2014—including private and group meetings.
The two men initially planned to have lunch on one day in mid-September of 2014, but it was later switched to a dinner between Thiel, Epstein, director Woody Allen and other guests—followed by two other lunches between Thiel and Epstein within a week, according to the scheduling records reviewed by the Times.
The Times noted it was unclear from the records whether all the meetings with Thiel materialized, as some were listed as tentative.
The records begin in 2011 and do not cover every day of Epstein’s meetings.
A spokesperson for Thiel did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes.
What We Don’t Know
The records did not make apparent what the nature of the meetings were. Around the time, Thiel was a Facebook board member and a chairman for data analytics firm Palantir, which had recently raised $50 million in funding and sought to raise more. Thiel also helped lead the venture capital group Founders Fund.
Read Related Also: How Income Investors Can Clobber Short Sellers
Forbes Valuation
We estimate Thiel’s net worth at $4.5 billion.
Key Background
Thiel is one of several high-profile figures who appeared to cross paths with Epstein after the financier’s 2008 guilty plea on child prostitution charges in Florida. Separate documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal showed that former Harvard president Larry Summers, Woody Allen and others continued their associations with Epstein long after he became a convicted sex offender. Epstein—who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting a federal sex trafficking trial—also reportedly helped MIT professor Noam Chomsky move money and paid the president of Bard College a six-figure sum. A lawsuit filed by Cheri Pierson alleged she was raped by hedge fund billionaire Leon Black in 2002 at Epstein’s New York mansion and that Black slept with women passed on from Epstein after they outgrew Epstein’s preference for pubescent girls—allegations Black has vehemently denied.
Tangent
Recently, a judge ruled that U.S. Virgin Island prosecutors can subpoena billionaire Elon Musk, as part of a civil lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase alleging the bank benefitted from Epstein’s sex trafficking when it counted him as a client. Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Hyatt Hotels executive chairman Thomas Pritzker and real estate mogul Mortimer Zuckerman have been subpoenaed in the same lawsuit. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is expected to sit for a deposition in the suit, though the bank has denied top executives were aware of Epstein’s conduct.
Further Reading
Peter Thiel Is Latest Billionaire Said to Have Met With Jeffrey Epstein (New York Times)
Musk Can Be Subpoenaed Through Tesla In Jeffrey Epstein-JPMorgan Lawsuit, Judge Rules (Forbes)
Epstein Lawsuit: Billionaires Sergey Brin, Thomas Pritzker And Mortimer Zuckerman Subpoenaed In JPMorgan Case (Forbes)
New Documents Reveal How Frequently Larry Summers, Woody Allen And More Met With Jeffrey Epstein (Forbes)
Billionaire Leon Black Accused Of Rape In N.Y. Civil Suit (Forbes)
