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Systems & Methods

Dialog:
the room, built openly

An invitation-only society founded in 2006 by Peter Thiel and the data broker Auren Hoffman. No public website, no published membership, nothing on the record — an entire resort rented for privacy, and an invitation promising “150 people to change the world.” A security failure in June 2026 exposed the roster: a NATO Supreme Allied Commander, a sitting Treasury Secretary, senators from both parties, and the founders of America’s largest surveillance and data-broker firms, seated beside the officials who regulate them. Invitations reached Epstein through others. There is no evidence he ever attended.

Founded
2006 · Thiel & Auren Hoffman
Format
Off the record · no attendee list
Fee
$16,846
2026 roster
222 people
Epstein attendance
Not established
Read this first — an important correction

There is no evidence Jeffrey Epstein ever attended a Dialog event. Invitations reached him and he discussed the retreats, but the Guardian reports it is unclear whether he attended any gathering. A “Jeff Epstein” appearing on a leaked list of past participants is the former chief financial officer of Oracle — a different person entirely. Nobody named on this page has been accused of wrongdoing, and attending a private conference is not evidence of anything.

Why It Is In This Archive
Not because Epstein went. Because it is the same machine, built openly, by people who were never accused of anything.
Dialog is an invitation-only society founded in 2006 by Peter Thiel and Auren Hoffman. No public website, no published membership, no record of proceedings — and, per a June 2026 leak, a roster that seats the founders of America’s largest surveillance and data-broker firms next to the officials who regulate them. Its invitation promises “150 people to change the world.”

The reason this page exists is structural, not accusatory.

This archive documents one mechanism above all others: the introduction nobody regulates. Donor policies govern money. Employment rules govern hiring. Nothing governs who is in the room, and being in the room is what Epstein spent thirty years buying.

Dialog is that room, constituted deliberately and at scale. Off the record by design. No attendee list. An entire resort rented for privacy. The structure is not incidental to the value — it is the value, and its members say so openly.

What makes it worth documenting rather than merely noting. The June 2026 leak showed who is actually there: a NATO Supreme Allied Commander, a sitting Treasury Secretary, two senators from opposing parties, and the founders and directors of many of the largest surveillance and data-broker companies in the country — alongside the officials who oversee them.

And its chairman is a data broker. Auren Hoffman founded LiveRamp and SafeGraph — identity resolution and location-data brokerage — both funded by Thiel, whose Palantir now holds a decade-long US Army agreement and expanding work with ICE, the IRS and HHS. The surveillance thread on this site ends up in exactly the same place.

The Epstein connection, stated at its true weight. Invitations reached him through Lisa Randall and Ian Osborne. Nikolic sent him reading for a Turkey session. He told Joi Ito that Thiel “loved” a “secret society” idea. He does not appear to have attended, and the archive should not claim he did.

What that leaves is the more interesting point. Epstein spent decades building a private, off-the-record convening operation and was destroyed when its contents became public. Dialog has run the same model for twenty years, legally, and the only reason anyone can name its members is that a researcher found the list in the website’s source code.

The Structure

Founded: 2006, by Peter Thiel and Auren Hoffman.

Format: at least one annual retreat. No speeches, no panels, nothing on the record.

Venues: Sundance Resort, Utah · Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain, Arizona · Ritz-Carlton Santa Barbara · San Clemente Palace, Venice · Turkey · Dublin.

Fee: $16,846, per an invitation published in 2022.

Session titles include: “Navigating WWIII,” “Bring Back Nuclear,” “Money (Does?) Buy Happiness,” and “How’s Your Sex Life?”

Section 01

The Record

2006
Founded

Peter Thiel and entrepreneur Auren Hoffman found Dialog — a private, invitation-only society for executives, elected officials and academics. No public website. No published membership. Compared by observers to Bilderberg, the Bohemian Club and Davos.

The pitch
“150 people to change the world”

The invitation, signed by Thiel and Hoffman, promises intimate discussion among leaders in technology, business, science and public policy. No speeches. No panels. Everything off the record. The name promises openness; the structure delivers the opposite.

Nov 2012
Randall forwards it

Harvard physicist Lisa Randall forwards Epstein an invitation to Dialog 2014 at Utah’s Sundance Resort, asking whether it would be “worthwhile.” Epstein replies: “sundance is nice „ go”

2013
Nikolic on Bitcoin

Boris Nikolic recommends Epstein follow a session on the geopolitics of Bitcoin scheduled at a Dialog retreat in Turkey: “You should have someone print you various materials in links below… You probably already know most of it but just in case.”

2014
Osborne forwards it too

British investor Ian Osborne forwards Epstein his own 2014 invitation with the note: “Same shit.” The Guardian reports that Auren Hoffman invited Epstein to a 2014 event.

Feb 2016
“Secret society”

Epstein emails Joi Ito that Thiel “loved” a “secret society” concept and had done significant work developing it.

2022
The price

Statistician Andrew Gelman publishes one of Dialog’s invitations on his blog, largely mocking it. The registration fee: $16,846 — discounted 70% with an accompanying code.

Jun 2026
The leak

Researcher maia arson crimew finds registration records hidden inside the publicly accessible code of Dialog’s poorly secured website. The membership becomes public for the first time in twenty years.

Aug 2026
The next one

A retreat near Dublin, with a registration list of 222 people. Per leaked materials, sessions may cover battlefield technology, artificial intelligence, Iran, and the surveillance industry.

Section 02

Who Is In the Room

From the registration records exposed in the June 2026 leak. Attending a private conference is lawful and implies nothing about any individual. The point is the composition.

Government & military

Gen. Alexus Grynkewich — NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe and head of US European Command, recorded as attending since 2021. Sitting Trump administration officials. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Two US senators — Cory Booker and Ted Cruz. The Governor of Maryland. A sitting ambassador to the United States. A former Middle East chief of intelligence.

Silicon Valley

Six members of the “PayPal Mafia.” Elon Musk. Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale. The President of Microsoft.

The data industry

Founders and directors of many of the largest surveillance, data-broker and advertising-data companies in the United Statesseated alongside the senior officials who oversee their industries. Chairman Auren Hoffman founded LiveRamp (identity resolution) and SafeGraph (location-data brokerage), both backed by Thiel.

Other

Conservative legal activist Leonard Leo. Music executive Scooter Braunreported majority co-owner of the crisis PR firm founded by Epstein’s former publicist.

The Composition Is the Finding

Not that any attendee did anything wrong — there is no allegation against any of them, and cross-party, cross-sector convening is a legitimate activity.

It is that the people who sell location data, identity resolution and battlefield software spend a weekend off the record with the senators, cabinet secretaries and commanders who buy and regulate it — and that until a security failure in June 2026, there was no way for anyone outside to know it happened.

The surveillance hub →

Section 03

Open Questions

?
Did Epstein ever attend?
Invitations reached him and he discussed the retreats. The Guardian reports it is unclear whether he attended any gathering, and the “Jeff Epstein” on a leaked participant list is Oracle’s former CFO.
?
What was the “secret society” concept?
Epstein told Joi Ito in February 2016 that Thiel “loved” the idea and had developed it substantially. What it referred to has never been explained.
?
Who attended the 2013 and 2014 retreats?
The Epstein files contain documents describing the 2013 retreat with dozens of expected participants. No complete historical attendee list has been published.
?
Are government attendees disclosed?
Serving officials, senators and a NATO commander appear on the leaked roster. Whether any of these attendances were disclosed under ethics rules has not been established.
?
Who pays?
A registration fee of $16,846 was documented in 2022, with a 70% discount code. Whether attendees, employers or sponsors pay, and who is comped, is not public.
?
What is discussed?
Leaked materials indicate 2026 sessions on battlefield technology, AI, Iran and the surveillance industry. Nothing said at any Dialog event has ever been published on the record.

Section 04

Sources

WIRED · via RSN

Leak Exposes Members of the Dialog Society

June 2026. The 222-person roster, Gen. Grynkewich, and the correction that the listed “Jeff Epstein” is Oracle’s former CFO.

rsn.org →
Miami New Times

The Invitation in the Epstein Files

The Randall forward, the 2013 retreat documents, and the February 2016 “secret society” email.

miaminewtimes.com →
Forbes

What We Know About Dialog

June 2026. The venues, the session titles, the $16,846 fee, and Osborne’s “same shit” note.

forbes.com →
NewsNation

The Secretive Retreats

The Guardian’s reporting that Auren Hoffman invited Epstein in 2014, and that it is unclear whether he attended.

newsnationnow.com →
Oligarch Watch

The Nikolic Bitcoin Email

The Turkey retreat, the Randall exchange, and comparisons to Bilderberg and the Bohemian Club.

oligarchwatch.substack.com →
Cross-reference

Peter Thiel

The Valar partnership, and the relationship that ran to 2019.

Read the profile →
Cross-reference

One Method

The introduction nobody regulates — the mechanism Dialog institutionalises.

Read the report →
Cross-reference

Surveillance

Where the data-broker and battlefield-technology thread leads.

Open the hub →