Stanford alumnus and billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel ’89 J.D. ’92 frequently met with financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who lent financial support and taxation advice to Thiel, documents released by the Department of Justice on Friday show.
Epstein also repeatedly invited Thiel to join him on “the island,” to which Thiel responded, “When are you there?” A spokesperson for Thiel told The New York Times Saturday that Thiel “never went to Epstein’s Island.”
The Daily has reached out to Thiel for comment.
Thiel, who co-founded PayPal and Palantir, began corresponding with Epstein as early as 2014. The two exchanged emails coordinating in-person meetings several times per year at locations including Epstein’s New York home, Thiel’s San Francisco office and Thiel’s home. Their exchanges continued into early 2019.
The pair’s relationship grew close over the years, with Epstein referring to Thiel as his “great friend” in communications to associates.
The two men often discussed financial matters. On June 12, 2014, Epstein offered to assist Thiel with his taxes, writing, “I suspect your personal tax regime can use some tweaking.”
Epstein then offered to provide advice that “might protect [Thiel’s] future,” a proposal that Thiel said would be “awesome.” In the same message, Thiel asked to meet with Epstein to discuss the matter further.
Amid a 2014 crackdown on tax inversion, a form of tax avoidance that involves reincorporating in a country with lower taxes, Epstein and Thiel continued their dialogue. Epstein wrote, “Other than me, many, most if not all advisors suggested that this was virtually impossible as they had closely followed the law.”
Thiel responded by praising Epstein’s advice, writing back, “I *never* question your judgment on tax-related issues.”
Still, Epstein’s financial advice to Thiel was not limited to taxes.
Thiel opened a Roth individual retirement account (IRA) in 1999, into which he moved $1,700 worth of PayPal shares. At the time, the 1.7 million PayPal shares in the account were valued at just $0.001 per share. By 2021, Thiel’s Roth IRA was valued at $5 billion.
The two exchanged ideas about Thiel’s Roth IRA in a 2014 email. Epstein wrote: “If you knew what you would do with the money withdrawn from the Roth, it might even lead to a more elegant solution.”
Thiel responded that he would pay off $150-200 million in loans while noting the size of his Roth was “somewhere over 2 [billion].”
Epstein invested $40 million into Volar Ventures, a venture capital firm co-founded by Thiel, and considered buying shares of Palantir.
Politics, culture and economics were frequent topics of discussion between the two men. Other messages outlined plans to meet with Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, film director Woody Allen, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and former Secretary of State Bill Burns, among others.
The two also met with several CEOs for dinner in Palo Alto in Aug. 2015, which Epstein described as “wild,” including Zuckerberg, Musk, Reid Hoffman ’90, Joi Ito and Ed Boyden Ph.D. ’05.
“Does my bad press give you pause?” Epstein asked Thiel in one email. Thiel’s response was unfazed: “If I was intimidated by bad press, I would not have gotten anywhere in life.”