Republican megadonor Peter Thiel’s firm struck an investment deal with Jeffrey Epstein that has netted the accused sex trafficker’s estate $130 million, making it its largest remaining asset.
Years before Epstein committed suicide in 2019, he invested $40 million into a pair of funds managed by Valar Ventures, a firm that was co-founded by Thiel, The New York Times reported Wednesday. His investment has since grown to be worth $170 million.
Those investments, made in 2015 and 2016, remained a secret until the Times report. They shed additional light on the relationship between Thiel, the Palantir Technologies co-founder who has become one of the U.S.’s most influential conservatives, and Epstein, who is one of the country’s most notorious figures.
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Reports revealing meetings between Epstein and Thiel first emerged in 2023, but the extent of their relationship remained murky. The Daily Beast uncovered emails that showed Thiel and Epstein were scheduled to have multiple meetings in 2014, including a dinner between the two men and Woody Allen.
Epstein, in addition to being a registered sex offender since 2008, was known in elite circles as a socialite and financier. He is believed to have made his millions by charging hefty fees for providing tax and estate services to billionaires.
It was rare for Epstein to make investments, The Times reported, but he chose to do so with Thiel and Valar Ventures, which specializes in providing start-up capital.
Thiel, 57, did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast. Forbes reports he is worth $20.8 billion, making him about the 100th richest person in the world.
Aaron Curtis, a spokesperson for Valar Ventures, said that a firm representative met with Epstein in 2014 because he was considered a “well-known adviser to world leaders, top universities, and philanthropic organizations.”
Curtis told The Times that the firm “hopes that the eventual distribution of these investments can be put to positive use by helping victims move forward with their lives.”
Epstein committed suicide while awaiting trial in a Manhattan detention facility on federal sex-trafficking charges. Much of his wealth was dispersed to his roughly 200 victims as restitution, with totals ranging from $500,000 to $2 million per victim. Those trafficked or abused by Epstein are unlikely to be given any additional money from the Valar Ventures investment, The Times reports.
Rather, the money is “more likely” to be distributed to one of Epstein’s ex-girlfriends, along with “two of his long-term advisers, who have been named the beneficiaries of his estate,” according to The Times.
The Valar Ventures investment makes up the vast majority of the remaining value in Epstein’s estate. The estate is worth approximately $200 million in total, down from the $600 million he had in assets at the time of his arrest.
The $170 million investment is still “locked up,” according to The Times, meaning the funds cannot be paid out in cash. This is likely because Valar Ventures is a venture capital firm, and investments of that nature are typically imposed extended lock-up periods to allow the companies being funded to grow.
Epstein’s suicide has been subject to many conspiracy theories, particularly from the right. Thiel addressed some of these theories himself in a Financial Times op-ed in January, in which he described Epstein as a “child sex offender.” In August, he went full tinfoil hat on Epstein’s death while talking to podcaster Joe Rogan, suggesting Bill and Melinda Gates may have had something to do with it.
FBI Director Kash Patel, who President Donald Trump appointed this year, reaffirmed in May that all evidence points to Epstein dying by suicide.
