Peter Thiel’s 20-Year Secret Network Exposed

By Alpaslan Düven -London

The membership roster and internal records of Dialog, the secretive organization founded by billionaire investor Peter Thiel in 2006, have been exposed following a security lapse on the group’s website. The leaked documents reveal an extraordinary network that stretches from NATO commanders and U.S. cabinet officials to senators, intelligence figures, and some of the most powerful executives in Silicon Valley.

Among the names listed is Demet Mutlu, founder and CEO of Turkey’s e-commerce giant Trendyol.

The records also reveal the agenda for Dialog’s upcoming retreat, featuring sessions with titles such as “Navigating World War III,” “Build-a-Cult,” “Bring Back Nuclear,” “Battlefield Technologies,” and “How’s Your Sex Life?”

A Power Center Behind Closed Doors

Dialog was founded in 2006 by Peter Thiel, the billionaire entrepreneur and investor behind PayPal, Palantir, and Founders Fund. Operating strictly by invitation, the organization has spent nearly two decades bringing together senior government officials, foreign political leaders, investors, military figures, and Silicon Valley executives for off-the-record discussions.

Throughout its existence, Dialog has refused to disclose the identities of its members. The newly leaked records, verified by WIRED, have now pierced that veil of secrecy.

Thiel has become one of the most influential—and controversial—figures in technology and politics. In his 2009 essay The Education of a Libertarian, he argued that freedom and democracy had become incompatible, a position that marked a sharp departure from traditional libertarian thought. Critics have since portrayed him as a leading architect of a technological elite whose influence increasingly extends into politics, surveillance, and governance.

The leaked records offer a rare glimpse into the network that has formed around him.

How the Leak Was Discovered

The exposed directory was first identified by Swiss hacktivist maia arson crimew, known for revealing the U.S. government’s No Fly List and exposing vulnerabilities at surveillance-camera company Verkada.

According to crimew, the directory came to light through an anonymous tip. A separate source later provided WIRED with the registration list for Dialog’s 2026 gathering.

What makes the incident particularly striking is that the information did not emerge from a sophisticated cyberattack. Instead, the directory was embedded within the source code of Dialog’s largely empty-looking website. Anyone inspecting the site’s code could access the records.

The site’s login page reportedly invited visitors to enter using an email address or Google account, without clearly indicating that membership or an invitation was required.

A 222-Person Map of Influence

The leaked registration records contain the names of 222 individuals expected to attend Dialog’s 2026 retreat near Dublin, Ireland. The documents also identify participants’ membership status, attendee category, and, in many cases, the number of years they have been involved with the organization.

Among those listed are:

• U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
• NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Alexus Grynkewich
• U.S. Senators Ted Cruz and Cory Booker
• Senior officials from the Trump administration
• OpenAI cofounder Greg Brockman
• LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman
• YouTube CEO Neal Mohan
• Microsoft Xbox President Sarah Bond
• Elon Musk
• Eric Schmidt
• Jared Kushner
• Garry Kasparov
• European Commission Vice President Kaja Kallas
• Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers
• Trendyol founder and CEO Demet Mutlu

The list also includes at least six members of the so-called “PayPal Mafia,” the influential network of entrepreneurs and investors that emerged from PayPal’s early leadership.

Regulators and Industry Leaders Under One Roof

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the leak is the concentration of public and private power represented within a single organization.

Auren Hoffman—the founder of data companies SafeGraph and LiveRamp and current chairman of Dialog—appears alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Senator Ted Cruz, one of the most influential voices overseeing federal regulatory policy.

Palantir cofounder Joe Lonsdale is listed alongside U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Representative Jim Himes, a senior member of the House Intelligence Committee.

The records also include former central bankers, think tank leaders, intelligence officials, venture capitalists, and technology executives. Notably, only one journalist appears in the leaked materials: Washington Post national security correspondent Souad Mekhennet.

A Program Unlike Any Other

Dialog’s 2026 agenda reflects a mixture of technological ambition, geopolitical anxiety, and cultural experimentation.

Planned sessions include:

• Money (Does?) Buy Happiness
• Bring Back Nuclear
• Navigating World War III
• Battlefield Technologies
• How’s Your Sex Life?
• Build-a-Cult
• Build-a-Party

The discussions suggest a community deeply preoccupied with artificial intelligence, longevity research, geopolitical instability, and the future of civilization.

According to the leaked materials, participants repeatedly returned to the prospect that artificial intelligence could fundamentally reshape work, warfare, education, and even religion within the next decade.

Some predicted mass unemployment. Others anticipated an AI winter, attacks on data centers, or a new religious awakening. One participant’s forecast was notably brief:

“Societal collapse will continue to accelerate.”

Private Data—and Matchmaking

The records reveal that Dialog maintained participant information through an Airtable database.

For each member, the organization stored biographical information, city of residence, membership status, and unique access tokens used for authentication. WIRED chose not to publish those credentials.

The organization also appears to have operated a matchmaking initiative. An affiliated website, dating.dialog.org, promised to help “exceptional people” form meaningful relationships.

Application forms reportedly asked members whether they were “looking for love” and collected information about their political views. Dialog assured participants that such data would never be shared publicly.

The leak exposed that information as well.

The Technology World’s Bilderberg

Despite its influence, Dialog has maintained an exceptionally low public profile since its founding.

The group hosts at least one major gathering annually. Previous meetings have reportedly taken place at luxury venues including the Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain in Arizona and the San Clemente Palace in Venice.

For years, observers have described Dialog as a technology-sector counterpart to the Bilderberg meetings, the private conferences that bring together political and business elites from across the Western world.

According to an invitation published by statistician Andrew Gelman in 2022, attendance fees exceeded $16,000 per participant.

For nearly two decades, Dialog operated largely outside public scrutiny. The leak offers an unprecedented look inside one of the most exclusive and influential networks connecting technology, politics, finance, and national security.