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---
category: "Technologists"
tags:
- Person
- ShayneCoplan
- Polymarket
- PredictionMarkets
- Crypto
- Ethereum
- FoundersFund
- PeterThiel
- DonaldTrumpJr
- FBISearch
- CampaignFinance
summary: "Founder and chief executive of Polymarket, a college dropout who built crypto projects before launching the prediction market in 2020, and whose company's 2025 Intercontinental Exchange deal made him a reported billionaire."
born: 1998
location: "New York, New York"
created: 2026-10-13
updated: 2026-10-13
relations:
- type: founded
with: "[[Polymarket]]"
role: "founder; began building the prediction market in 2020"
start: 2020
fn: 5
- type: head_of
with: "[[Polymarket]]"
role: "chief executive officer; executive officer and director of Blockratize Inc., which does business as Polymarket"
start: 2020
fn: 18
- type: head_of
with: "[[TokenUnion]]"
role: "founder and chief executive officer of the Ethereum holding-contract project TokenUnion, formerly TokenBnk"
start: 2017
fn: 10
- type: founded
with: "[[Union (union.market)]]"
role: "built union.market into a marketplace for yield-generating digital assets"
start: 2019
fn: 3
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Chronicled]]"
role: "summer intern in San Francisco, by his own account"
start: 2016
end: 2016
fn: 6
- type: investigated
with: "[[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]"
reverse: true
role: "search of his Manhattan apartment and seizure of his phone and electronic devices"
start: 2024-11-13
fn: 23
- type: investigated
with: "[[Commodity Futures Trading Commission]]"
reverse: true
role: "civil probe of Polymarket, closed without action"
end: 2025-07
fn: 26
- type: investigated
with: "[[United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York]]"
reverse: true
role: "criminal probe of Polymarket, closed without charges"
end: 2025-07
fn: 27
- type: investigated
with: "[[House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform]]"
reverse: true
role: "document request on insider trading and identity verification at Polymarket"
start: 2026-05-22
fn: 19
- type: funded
with: "[[Never Back Down]]"
role: "$5,000 contribution to the super PAC"
start: 2023-06-15
fn: 32
- type: funded
with: "[[Harris Victory Fund]]"
role: "$50,000 contribution to the joint fundraising committee, which the FEC records allocate to the Democratic National Committee ($41,300), Harris for President ($3,300) and state party committees"
start: 2024-10-21
fn: 31
- type: funded
with: "[[Torres Victory Fund]]"
role: "$23,300 contribution to the joint fundraising committee, earmarked through ActBlue, which the FEC records allocate to Torres for Congress ($3,300), the New York State Democratic Committee ($10,000), Equality PAC ($5,000) and La Bamba PAC ($5,000)"
start: 2024-11-01
fn: 31
- type: funded
with: "[[Republican National Committee]]"
role: "three receipts totaling $250,000 (general account $44,300, headquarters account $72,800, legal proceedings account $132,900), employer listed as Blockratize Inc."
start: 2026-08-03
fn: 31
---
Shayne Coplan (born 1998) is a New York technologist and the founder and chief executive of [[Polymarket]], a prediction market he began building in 2020 and that accepts bets only in crypto.[^1] In October 2025 [[Intercontinental Exchange]] invested two billion dollars in cash in the company, and the [[Bloomberg Billionaires Index]] counted him as a billionaire at 27, which [[Fortune]] described as the youngest current self-made billionaire.[^2]
### Early life and family
Coplan is the only child of South African college professors and grew up with his mother on the [[Upper West Side]] of [[Manhattan]].[^1][^3] His mother taught in the film departments of [[New York University]] and [[Columbia University]] and cast him in several of her short films as a child. He has described his father, who studied panic disorder and depression, as a "mad scientist."[^3] He attended a public school in [[Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan|Hell's Kitchen]][^1] and then [[The Beacon School]], a selective public high school.[^3][^4] At 14 he emailed the New York office of the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] asking whether it would meet him about setting up an electronic trading platform. He did not receive a reply, the [[The Observer|Observer]] reports. At 16 he got his first job by turning up unannounced at a tech startup that had not answered several requests for an internship.[^4]
### Schooling and the first crypto projects
Coplan enrolled at NYU as a computer science major in the fall of 2016.[^3] Accounts differ on how long he stayed. [[CBS News]] reported that he "dropped out of NYU his freshman year."[^5] [[New York (magazine)|New York magazine]] reported that he was telling friends within a few months that school was not for him and that he dropped out after the first semester,[^3] and the Observer gives the same account.[^4] His own biography on the team page of [[TokenUnion]], captured by the [[Internet Archive]] in May 2019, gives a different sequence. It says that halfway through his second semester at NYU the price of [[Ethereum|ether]] began a mega bull run, so he "left school to pursue blockchain projects full time," and that he began work on TokenUnion shortly afterward.[^6]
The team page lists him as chief executive officer of TokenUnion and says that two years after the 2014 presale he moved to [[San Francisco]] for the summer to intern at [[Chronicled]], "one of the first venture-funded Ethereum startups."[^6] The company's homepage in the same capture said that TokenUnion "lets you earn interest on your crypto," carried the line "Get Rewarded for Holding Crypto," stated that "Americans are ineligible to receive their reward," and linked a whitepaper. Its footer read "2018 Blockratize Limited."[^7] [[El País]] describes TokenUnion as "a kind of crypto loyalty program" and calls it his first project.[^8]
The project launched under the name TokenBnk on [[Product Hunt]] on November 2, 2017. Commenters asked whether the team was incorporated and whether the product was a scam, and Coplan posted as the founder. He explained that when a participant withdraws, a fee of 2.5 percent of the ether-denominated value of the deposit, fixed at deposit time as a number of TBK tokens, is paid and distributed among the participants who remain, so that "the yield is generated" by people who do not hold. Commenters asked whether the team was incorporated, what happens if everyone withdraws, and whether the model was a Ponzi scheme. A reviewer on the same page wrote in January 2022 that the project was "a soft clone of POWH (proof of weak hands), EthPyramid, and other Ethereum ponzi-like projects."[^9] [[Forbes]] reported the next day, under the headline "TokenUnion Is The Decentralized Cryptocurrency Savings Account That Rewards Patience," that the product (formerly TokenBnk) was "not a bank at all" but a non-custodial holding system on the blockchain, in which a withdrawing user pays a fee of one TokenUnion coin that is divided among all users in proportion to their share of the total network value. The article quotes "TokenUnion founder and CEO Shayne Coplan" on cryptoeconomics: "In the case of TokenUnion, the correct behavior is to hold long, and that's where the rewards come in."[^10]
He also built union.market, which New York magazine describes as a marketplace for yield-generating digital assets. The magazine reports that he bought the union.market domain because he was a devotee of [[Union Market (grocery store)|Union Market]], a grocery store on the [[Lower East Side]] and in Brooklyn. He was living on what the earlier crypto project had eventually paid him and a small amount of venture capital while he built it, and at one point he appraised his possessions in a Google Sheet so that he could pay rent.[^3] [[The Block]] published an essay on staking on March 2, 2020 that it credited to "Union founder Shayne Coplan."[^11] The Internet Archive holds captures of union.market from July 2019 onward; the captured pages are a script-driven application shell, and the Google Tag Manager container embedded in them is the only content they preserve.[^12]
He had read [[Robin Hanson]]'s paper "Shall We Vote on Values, But Bet on Beliefs?," which proposes governance by market (futarchy). New York magazine reports that in early 2019 Coplan sent Hanson "a verbose email with multiple block paragraphs" proclaiming that he wanted "to be the person to bring prediction markets to life." Hanson "brushed him off," the magazine writes, because many companies had tried in the decades since he first wrote about them without achieving critical mass.[^3] Hanson had designed the [[Policy Analysis Market]], the DARPA-funded futures market on Middle Eastern outcomes that the Pentagon abandoned on July 29, 2003, a day after Senators [[Ron Wyden]] and [[Byron Dorgan]] denounced it.[^13] Coplan had also complained to [[Joey Krug]], the founder of the prediction market [[Augur]], that Augur's user experience was poor and its fees too high.[^3]
New York magazine describes the initial coin offering boom of that period as producing projects that were often never fully built. Coplan had worked on one that promised to pay him $160,000 and then tried to back out of paying the second half. "These guys are grifters, and they half-ass things," he said of the teams behind such projects.[^3]
### Ethereum and the early crypto community
According to the TokenUnion biography, Coplan began mining [[Litecoin]] and buying [[Bitcoin]] in 2013, discovered Ethereum in early 2014, and took part in the Ether presale in July 2014.[^6] The Observer reports that in 2014 he bought $150 worth of Ethereum, which it estimates would be worth about one million dollars today.[^4] El País says that "at just 15" he took part in Ethereum's 2014 initial coin offering.[^8] Fortune presents the story as "crypto lore" rather than verified fact.[^1] The Observer reports that he soon became fed up with the grifting in the sector, and New York magazine quotes him calling the sector's copycat start-ups a "Build-A-Bear" lineup.[^3][^4]
### Founding Polymarket
Coplan has said that he started the company in 2020, when he was 21. In a post on X he wrote: "At the onset of the pandemic, I quite literally had nothing to lose: 21, running out of money, 2.5 years since I dropped out and nothing to show for it."[^2] During the pandemic he was confined to his New York apartment without an office. El País reports that the only room where he could find privacy was the bathroom, which he converted into a workspace, and that the idea for Polymarket came from there.[^8] New York magazine calls it a "bathroom office" on the Lower East Side.[^3] Coplan told CBS that "New York City was shut down."[^5] El País reports that his prediction-market thinking drew on Robin Hanson and on [[Friedrich Hayek]]'s argument for decentralized information.[^8] New York magazine reports that he had no co-founders ("Who would want to work with me? I got nothing") and launched poly.market in June 2020, referring union.market's traffic there. He ran the company's social-media accounts himself and messaged each post to investors, one of whom told the magazine that "every single tweet he would send us" arrived that way. The magazine reports that Polymarket correctly predicted Joe Biden's win in the 2020 election.[^3] In a podcast around that time Coplan called the site part of the "Napsterization of finance," and said on another: "At no point are we intermediating anything, or custodying anything, or even taking fees, it's basically nonprofit."[^3]
In November 2020 he appeared on The Block's podcast, The Scoop, on a program whose listed topics included "How he went from early Ethereum adopter to founder of a company." The Block summarized his view as confidence in the growing future of prediction markets.[^14] New York magazine reports that the early investors included Michael Bucella (seed round) and Meltem Demirors, who invested after Coplan "violently argued" with her for two hours at their first meeting, and that a venture capitalist who passed on the company said of the U.S. restrictions: "I think he knew," describing "a bit of a wink-wink, like, 'We geoblocked the U.S., and hopefully regulation will change at some point.'"[^3]
### Funding and backers
In May 2024 the company announced that it had raised $70 million across two rounds it had not previously disclosed. The $45 million Series B was led by [[Founders Fund]] and existing investors [[1confirmation]] and [[ParaFi]], with participation from [[Vitalik Buterin]], [[Dragonfly]] and [[Kevin Hartz]], a co-founder of [[Eventbrite]]. The previously unannounced $25 million Series A was led by [[General Catalyst]], with participation from [[Joe Gebbia]] of [[Airbnb]] and [[Polychain Capital]].[^15] Joey Krug, a partner at Founders Fund, said in a statement that the firm had been checking Polymarket during breaking news and that "It became clear to us that Polymarket was the winner in this market."[^16] In October 2025 Coplan disclosed two earlier rounds: $55 million in 2024 led by [[Blockchain Capital]] at a $350 million valuation, and $150 million in 2025 led by Founders Fund at a $1.2 billion valuation.[^17] New York magazine reports that Krug, whose Augur Coplan had criticized, first turned down Coplan's repeated investment pitches ("prediction markets are one of the hardest types of start-ups to build"), then set a target of $5 million in weekly volume; in late 2023 Coplan called to say he had reached it, after the ouster of Sam Altman at [[OpenAI]] produced a market on whether Altman would return as chief executive. Krug, by then at Founders Fund, led the round.[^3]
The same announcement stated that Polymarket had hired Richard Jaycobs, a former president of the Cantor Exchange and chief executive of The Clearing Corporation, as head of market expansion to explore "US regulated activities," and that he would work with former [[Commodity Futures Trading Commission]] (CFTC) chairman [[J. Christopher Giancarlo]], who is chairman of Polymarket's advisory board.[^15]
Filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission list [[Blockratize Inc.]] as the issuer, with Coplan as an executive officer and director. Blockratize is the Delaware entity that the House Oversight Committee's 2026 letter names as doing business as Polymarket.[^18][^19] [[Sportico]], reviewing Panamanian corporate filings for Adventure One QSS Inc., the operator of Polymarket's international platform, reported that the company designated Coplan its president on December 22, 2021 and replaced him on April 7, 2022, and that he remained a director.[^20] The notice filed October 18, 2024 reports a first sale on October 4, 2024, an offering of $86,187,000 and $82,203,608 sold, with [[Bart Stephens]] also listed as a director. An amended notice filed February 25, 2025 reports a first sale on February 11, 2025, $91,203,500 offered and $90,948,943 sold, with [[Joshua Rivera]] listed as a director. A notice filed August 1, 2025 reports a first sale on July 18, 2025, $257,535,911 offered and $135,373,939 sold.[^18]
### The FBI search and the probe
At about 6 a.m. on Wednesday, November 13, 2024, eight [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agents in black windbreakers came to Coplan's Manhattan apartment with a battering ram, New York magazine reports. They surprised him in bed, took his phone from the bedside table, would not let him touch it, and spent hours going through his belongings and art collection.[^3] The [[New York Post]] first reported the search, citing a source close to the matter, according to The Block and [[Fox Business]]; the source said the FBI did not arrest Coplan.[^21][^22] [[United Press International]] reported that the [[New York Times]] and the Post both reported that his phone and other electronic devices were seized, and that the Times reported the search was part of a criminal investigation into whether Polymarket was allowing U.S.-based persons to use its services in violation of the 2022 order.[^23] [[NBC News]] reported on November 14, citing a source familiar with the matter, that Coplan was home when "numerous agents" entered, that he turned over his devices, that he had not been arrested or charged, and that it was not clear whether Coplan or Polymarket were targets; a spokesman for the [[United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York]] declined to comment.[^24] [[ABC News]] reported, citing law enforcement sources, that the search was part of a criminal investigation concerning, at least in part, whether Polymarket had violated the 2022 settlement with the CFTC.[^25] That settlement required Polymarket to pay $1.4 million, wind down markets that did not comply, and block U.S. users.[^21] A Polymarket spokesperson called the search "obvious political retribution by the outgoing administration against Polymarket for providing a market that correctly called the 2024 presidential election."[^24] The Block reported that the Post paraphrased its source as saying "The government is likely trying to accuse Polymarket of market manipulation and rigging its polls in favor of Trump."[^21]
On July 15, 2025, [[Bloomberg News]] reported that the [[United States Department of Justice]] and the CFTC had closed their investigations of Polymarket; the company had received formal declination notices earlier that month, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke to [[CNBC]]. The probes, one civil and one criminal, examined whether the platform accepted wagers from people in the United States despite the company's 2022 assurances, and both ended with no further action.[^26][^27] CNBC reported that the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office conducted the criminal investigation and declined to comment, and that the closure came "nearly nine months" after agents seized Coplan's phone and other devices. Coplan was not criminally charged.[^27]
### Statements on the probe
On the day of the search Coplan wrote on X: "new phone, who dis?"[^3] The Block quoted him on the evening of the search as saying that "Polymarket has provided value to 10's of millions of people this election cycle, while causing harm to nobody," and that "We're deeply proud of that."[^21] On X he also wrote: "It's discouraging that the current administration would seek a last-ditch effort to go after companies they deem to be associated with political opponents." He added that Polymarket was "deeply committed to being non-partisan."[^21]
In a November 2025 interview with [[60 Minutes]], Coplan described the search: "There was a lotta, like, yelling and banging on the door," and, asked whether agents had knocked, he said: "No, like a battering ram."[^5]
### Trump, Trump Jr. and the administration
Polymarket's election markets drew attention in the 2024 campaign. New York magazine reported that Trump's campaign included a Polymarket slide as the first page of its daily briefings, and that Trump told aides, "These are a lot more accurate than the polls, you know."[^3] The same magazine reported that Polymarket's election-night display set off celebrations at [[Mar-a-Lago]] when it showed Trump winning before the networks did.[^3]
On March 7, 2025, the [[Washington Examiner]] reported that Coplan was expected to attend the White House Digital Asset Roundtable at the invitation of [[Donald Trump]].[^28] In March he thanked Trump for the invitation, writing that the administration's "commitment to collaboration with American innovators is revitalizing the American dream."[^27]
[[Donald Trump Jr.]] joined [[Kalshi]], a rival prediction market, as an adviser in January 2025, according to New York magazine.[^3] On August 26, 2025, Polymarket announced that [[1789 Capital]], Trump Jr.'s venture firm, had made a strategic investment in the company, and that Trump Jr. had joined Polymarket's advisory board. The terms were not disclosed.[^29] In the November 2025 interview CBS reported that the 1789 Capital fund had invested about $10 million. Asked whether the appointment was meant to protect him, Coplan said: "So it's definitely not to protect myself." He also said of the administration: "This admin is very pro-innovation, and pro-crypto, and pro-Polymarket, which is amazing."[^5] In July 2026 the [[Daily Beast]] reported, citing the New York Post, that Coplan had a meltdown after Trump Jr. joined a rival business.[^30]
The 2024 Series B was led by Founders Fund, the venture firm founded by [[Peter Thiel]], and Vitalik Buterin took part in it.[^15]
### Political donations
The Federal Election Commission's itemized receipts for the name "Coplan, Shayne" list 23 receipts from Shayne Coplan of New York, with employers shown as Polymarket, Shayne Coplan or Blockratize Inc. (the 2026 receipts add "Mr." to the name).[^31] Entries for other people named Coplan, in Arizona, Colorado and Virginia, appear in a surname search and are not attributed to him here. Line by line, the records show four contributions in his own name:
- June 15, 2023: $5,000 to [[Never Back Down]], a super PAC whose FEC committee record gives a first filing date of February 23, 2023 and a treasurer, Cabell Hobbs.[^32]
- October 21, 2024: $50,000 to the [[Harris Victory Fund]], a joint fundraising committee. The Harris Victory Fund receipt is the one reported on the individual-contribution line (11AI). The other October 21 entries are the committee's allocations of that money: $41,300 to the [[Democratic National Committee]] (DNC Services Corp.), $3,300 to [[Harris for President]], and nine receipts of $105.88 or $105.89 to state party committees in Alabama, Idaho, Maine (two), Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Texas and the District of Columbia, plus a further $105.88 to the Idaho party dated November 4 and marked a partnership allocation. Each is reported under the text "Harris Victory Fund" or, for the Idaho entry of November 4, "partnership allocation," and several under the FEC joint-fundraising memo code (15J).[^31]
- November 1, 2024: $23,300 to the [[Torres Victory Fund]], a joint fundraising committee whose treasurer, Andrew Madras, is also treasurer of Torres for Congress, the committee of Representative [[Ritchie Torres]], and of La Bamba PAC, which Torres sponsors. The contribution is recorded twice: once as an earmarked contribution to the committee and once as a $23,300 receipt through [[ActBlue]], filed as an earmark for the Torres Victory Fund (committee C00754598). The allocations are $3,300 to [[Torres for Congress]], $10,000 to the [[New York State Democratic Committee]], $5,000 to [[Equality PAC]] and $5,000 to [[La Bamba PAC]], which add to $23,300.[^31]
- August 3, 2026: three receipts to the [[Republican National Committee]] totaling $250,000, with Blockratize Inc. as employer: $44,300 to the committee's main account, $72,800 to its headquarters account and $132,900 to its legal proceedings account.[^31]
The Democratic-side contributions therefore total $73,300 ($50,000 and $23,300). The Washington Examiner reported on March 7, 2025 that he donated roughly $100,000 to Democrats in the 2024 cycle.[^28] The employer search also shows that on September 19, 2024 Polymarket's chief marketing officer, Matthew Modabber, made a $50,000 contribution to the Harris Victory Fund with the same allocations to the DNC, Harris for President and state parties, and that on July 17, 2026 its chief legal officer, Neal Kumar, gave $10,000 to the DSCC.[^33]
### Wealth
On October 7, 2025, Intercontinental Exchange, the parent of the [[New York Stock Exchange]], invested $2 billion in cash in Polymarket. Fortune reported that the investment put the company's valuation at $9 billion after the deal, and that the Bloomberg Billionaires Index counted Coplan as a billionaire at 27, making him the youngest current self-made billionaire.[^2] CBS described him as "a billionaire, at least on paper," and reported that Polymarket had not yet made a profit.[^5]
### 2026 inquiries
On May 22, 2026, [[James Comer]], chairman of the [[House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform]], signed a four-page letter to Coplan as chief executive of Blockratize, Inc. doing business as Polymarket, with a copy to ranking member [[Robert Garcia]]. The letter states that the committee is examining the use of prediction-market platforms to conduct insider trading and the adequacy of company safeguards against offshore access that circumvents U.S. regulation. It cites an April 24, 2026 federal indictment of U.S. Army Master Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke (the Justice Department's release of the unsealed indictment is dated April 23, 2026), which alleges that he used classified information about [[Operation Absolute Resolve]], the operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President [[Nicolás Maduro]], to place wagers producing more than $409,000 in personal financial gain on Polymarket, and a May 13, 2026 New York Times investigation reporting that more than 80 Polymarket users placed bets with suspicious characteristics, including trades hours before unannounced U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran. The letter asks for documents from January 1, 2024 to the present, by June 5, 2026, in eight categories: identity verification and know-your-customer procedures (including differences for international account holders and the financial impact of those policies); detection, investigation and reporting of suspicious trading, and the number and disposition of referrals to the Department of Justice, the CFTC and other authorities; contracts tied to U.S. or Israeli military operations in Iran and to Operation Absolute Resolve; collection and use of personal data; compliance with CFTC regulations and the 2022 settlement; deliberations on contracts tied to armed conflict; current or former officers, directors, employees and advisers who hold or have applied for a U.S. security clearance; and the financial impact of anomalous trading on market integrity.[^19]
In September 2026 the [[Wall Street Journal]] published an investigation by Katherine Long, Caitlin Ostroff and Neil Mehta, which other outlets reported on September 21. According to those reports, current and former employees told the Journal that compliance staff escalated to Coplan a stolen-debit-card fraud attempt on Polymarket's U.S. platform, worth at least $10 million, that peaked in February, with the payment processor Checkout.com rejecting more than 80 percent of the deposits it handled at the peak against an industry norm of about 1 percent, and that Coplan replied: "Just keep growing and pay a fine if regulators ever find out." Polymarket has not confirmed the comment. A spokesperson said the company's "market integrity framework includes processes to detect, review and respond to suspicious activity."[^34] The same reports state that the Journal also reported that the CFTC is investigating Polymarket and that staff were told to preserve records; that Polymarket's U.S. chief compliance officer, Andrew Clifford, resigned in April after sending executives a report on the fraud; that the U.S. division's chief executive, Justin Hertzberg, was later fired; that a review by Sullivan & Cromwell concluded the company had complied with applicable regulations; and that Polymarket was raising $1 billion at a valuation of about $21 billion, with Donald Trump Jr.'s 1789 Capital investing roughly $300 million.[^34]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Fortune, "Who is Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan? The 26-year-old's crypto betting site is taking U.S. politics by storm," Nov. 3, 2024. https://fortune.com/crypto/2024/11/03/polymarket-ceo-shayne-coplan-crypto-betting-site-us-presidential-election-harris-trump-odds/
[^2]: Fortune, article on the Intercontinental Exchange investment and Coplan's billionaire status, Oct. 11, 2025. https://fortune.com/2025/10/11/shayne-coplan-polymarket-youngest-self-made-billionaire-nyse-investment-success/
[^3]: Jen Wieczner, "Is Polymarket Legal? How Shayne Coplan's Bet Is Paying Off," New York magazine, Intelligencer, March 11, 2025. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/is-polymarket-legal-politics-betting-shayne-coplan.html
[^4]: Fred Harter, "Polymarket founder Shayne Coplan has built a $9bn empire on crypto bets," The Observer, March 15, 2026. https://observer.co.uk/news/profile/article/polymarket-founder-shayne-coplan-has-built-a-9bn-empire-on-crypto-bets
[^5]: "Meet Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan, the college dropout turned billionaire behind the online betting platform," CBS News, 60 Minutes, Nov. 30, 2025. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/polymarket-ceo-shayne-coplan-online-betting-platform-60-minutes-transcript/
[^6]: TokenUnion, team page with the biography of Shayne Coplan (chief executive officer), Internet Archive capture of http://tokenunion.io/ dated May 19, 2019. Self-description. https://web.archive.org/web/20190519212047/http://tokenunion.io/
[^7]: TokenUnion, homepage, Internet Archive capture of http://tokenunion.io/ dated May 19, 2019 (21:20:47 GMT); footer "2018 Blockratize Limited." https://web.archive.org/web/20190519212047/http://tokenunion.io/
[^8]: Daniel Soufi, "Shayne Coplan, Generation Z's first major billionaire," El País (English edition), Nov. 1, 2025. https://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2025-11-01/shayne-coplan-generation-zs-first-major-billionaire.html
[^9]: Product Hunt, "TokenUnion: Earn crypto by holding crypto," launch page and comment thread dated Nov. 2, 2017 (launch tag tokenbnk; one review dated Jan. 2022). https://www.producthunt.com/posts/tokenunion
[^10]: Curtis Silver, "TokenUnion Is The Decentralized Cryptocurrency Savings Account That Rewards Patience," Forbes (contributor), Nov. 3, 2017 (Internet Archive copy). https://www.forbes.com/sites/curtissilver/2017/11/03/tokenbnk-is-the-decentralized-cryptocurrency-savings-account-that-rewards-patience/
[^11]: Shayne Coplan, "Staking Beyond Consensus: decentralized digital labor markets," The Block, March 2, 2020. https://www.theblock.co/post/56263/staking-beyond-consensus-decentralized-digital-labor-markets
[^12]: Internet Archive captures of https://union.market/ dated July 17, 2019 and Nov. 19, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191119232941/https://union.market/
[^13]: Robin Hanson, "The Policy Analysis Market (and FutureMAP) Archive," George Mason University, https://mason.gmu.edu/~rhanson/policyanalysismarket.html ; "Pentagon Abandons Terrorism Betting Plan," Associated Press, July 29, 2003, as published by KSL, https://www.ksl.com/article/103317
[^14]: "Shayne Coplan, Founder, Polymarket," The Block, Nov. 13, 2020 (The Scoop podcast episode page). https://www.theblock.co/post/84582/shayne-coplan-founder-polymarket
[^15]: "Polymarket Raises $70m From Thiel's Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Vitalik Buterin to Scale Global Prediction Market," Business Wire, May 13, 2024. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240513090515/en/Polymarket-Raises-%2470m-From-Thiels-Founders-Fund-General-Catalyst-Vitalik-Buterin-to-Scale-Global-Prediction-Market
[^16]: "Polymarket raises $45 million from Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, Vitalik Buterin and others," The Block, May 14, 2024. https://www.theblock.co/post/294367/polymarket-raises-45-million-from-peter-thiels-founders-fund-vitalik-buterin-and-others
[^17]: Naga Avan-Nomayo, "Polymarket discloses past funding rounds totaling $205 million before $2 billion ICE investment," The Block, October 8, 2025. https://www.theblock.co/post/373783/polymarket-discloses-past-funding-rounds-totaling-205-million-before-2-billion-ice-investment
[^18]: SEC Form D notices filed by Blockratize Inc. (CIK 0002041378): notice filed Oct. 18, 2024 (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2041378/000204137824000001/primary_doc.xml); amended notice filed Feb. 25, 2025 (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2041378/000204137825000001/primary_doc.xml); notice filed Aug. 1, 2025 (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2041378/000204137825000003/primary_doc.xml).
[^19]: U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, letter to Shayne Coplan as chief executive of Blockratize, Inc. d/b/a Polymarket, May 22, 2026. https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Polymarket-Prediction-Markets-Letter.pdf
[^20]: Dan Bernstein, "What Is Polymarket Doing in Panama?," Sportico, February 19, 2026. https://www.sportico.com/business/sports-betting/2026/polymarket-panama-adventure-one-prediction-market-1234885035/
[^21]: "FBI seizes Polymarket CEO's phone and electronics: report," The Block, Nov. 13, 2024 (updated Nov. 13, 2024). https://www.theblock.co/post/326404/fbi-seizes-polymarket-ceos-phone-and-electronics-report
[^22]: "FBI reportedly raids Polymarket CEO's home after betting platform predicts Trump win: 'Political retribution'," Fox Business, Nov. 13, 2024. https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/fbi-reportedly-raids-polymarket-ceos-home-after-betting-platform-predicts-trump-win-political-retribution
[^23]: Darryl Coote, "Reports: FBI raids home, seizes phone of Polymarket's CEO," UPI, Nov. 14, 2024. https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2024/11/14/Polymarket-FBI-raid/9741731564938/
[^24]: Sophia Pargas, Chloe Atkins and Tom Winter, "FBI raids Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan's apartment, seizes phone: source," NBC News, Nov. 14, 2024. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/fbi-raids-polymarket-ceo-shayne-coplans-apartment-seizes-phone-source-rcna180180
[^25]: Aaron Katersky, "FBI raids Polymarket founder's home in criminal probe of election betting platform," ABC News, Nov. 14, 2024. https://abcnews.com/US/fbi-raids-polymarket-founders-home-criminal-probe-election/story?id=115861557
[^26]: "US Justice Department and CFTC close probes into Polymarket: Bloomberg," The Block, July 15, 2025. https://www.theblock.co/post/362703/us-justice-department-and-cftc-close-probes-into-polymarket-bloomberg
[^27]: "Polymarket investigations ended by DOJ, CFTC without charges," CNBC, July 15, 2025. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/15/polymarket-investigations-doj-cftc-betting-market.html
[^28]: Washington Examiner, "'Non-partisan' crypto betting company attending White House event is run by Democratic donors," March 7, 2025. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/3340736/polymarket-white-house-event-democratic-donors/
[^29]: "Donald Trump Jr. joins Polymarket advisory board after his VC firm makes strategic investment," Yahoo Finance, Aug. 26, 2025. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/donald-trump-jr-joins-polymarket-175527312.html
[^30]: The Daily Beast, article on Polymarket's dispute with Donald Trump Jr. and Kalshi, July 31, 2026, citing the New York Post. https://www.thedailybeast.com/polymarket-billionaires-screaming-don-jr-meltdown-revealed/
[^31]: Federal Election Commission, Schedule A itemized receipts, contributor-name search "COPLAN, SHAYNE" (openFEC API, api.open.fec.gov/v1/schedules/schedule_a/, retrieved Oct. 13, 2026). https://api.open.fec.gov/v1/schedules/schedule_a/?contributor_name=COPLAN%2C%20SHAYNE . Committee records: Torres Victory Fund (C00754598), Torres for Congress (C00699744, candidate H0NY15160, Ritchie John Torres) and La Bamba PAC (C00753947, sponsor candidate Ritchie John Torres), each with treasurer Andrew Madras. https://api.open.fec.gov/v1/committee/C00754598/
[^32]: FEC committee record, C00834077, Never Back Down Inc. (super PAC; treasurer Cabell Hobbs; first file date 2023-02-23). https://api.open.fec.gov/v1/committee/C00834077/
[^33]: Federal Election Commission, Schedule A itemized receipts by contributor employer "POLYMARKET" and "BLOCKRATIZE INC." (openFEC API, retrieved Oct. 13, 2026), including Modabber, Matthew (Sept. 19, 2024) and Kumar, Neal (July 17, 2026). https://api.open.fec.gov/v1/schedules/schedule_a/?contributor_employer=POLYMARKET
[^34]: Kurt Robson, "Keep Growing and Pay a Fine: Polymarket CEO Allegedly Ignored Warnings as Fraud Attempts Hit $10M," CCN via Yahoo Finance, Sept. 21, 2026, reporting the Wall Street Journal investigation (https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/crypto/articles/keep-growing-pay-fine-polymarket-104716697.html); Cris Tolomia, "Polymarket's CEO told staff to keep growing as a $10M fraud scheme hit its U.S. platform," Quartz, updated Sept. 21, 2026 (https://qz.com/polymarket-ceo-fraud-cftc-investigation-growth-092126); Mateusz Mazur, "Polymarket Waved Off Stolen-Card Fraud Warnings, WSJ Reports," iGaming Express, Sept. 21, 2026, naming the Journal's authors (https://igamingexpress.com/polymarket-stolen-card-fraud-coplan-wsj/).

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10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Luana Lopes Lara.md Normal file
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---
aliases:
- Luana Lopes Lara
- Luana Lara
- "Lopes Lara, Luana"
- "Lopes-Lara, Luana"
- "Luana Lopez Lara"
- "Luana Lara Lopes"
category: "Business & Finance"
tags:
- Person
- LuanaLopesLara
- Kalshi
- PredictionMarkets
- MIT
- YCombinator
- Brazil
- Ballet
- Billionaires
summary: "Co-founder and chief operating officer of Kalshi, a native of Joinville, Brazil, who trained with the Bolshoi Theatre School in Joinville, danced in Austria and studied computer science at MIT."
location: "New York, New York"
created: 2026-10-13
updated: 2026-10-13
relations:
- type: founded
with: "[[Kalshi]]"
role: "co-founder"
start: 2018
fn: 2
- type: head_of
with: "[[Kalshi]]"
role: "chief operating officer, as self-reported in FEC records"
start: 2026-07
fn: 13
- type: director_of
with: "[[Kalshi]]"
role: "director, listed on Form D filings"
start: 2020-03
fn: 2
- type: partner_of
with: "[[Tarek Mansour]]"
role: "co-founder of Kalshi"
start: 2018
fn: 15
- type: participant_in
with: "[[Y Combinator]]"
role: "office-hours team at the October 2018 hackathon; Winter 2019 batch (W19)"
start: 2018-10
fn: 10
- type: participant_in
with: "[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]"
role: "student; bachelor's degree in mathematics and computer science"
start: 2014
fn: 4
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Salzburger Landestheater]]"
role: "professional dancer; performed in Swan Lake, per Bora Investir"
start: 2014
fn: 3
---
Luana Lopes Lara is the co-founder and chief operating officer of [[Kalshi]]. She is a native of Joinville, in Santa Catarina, [[Brazil]], trained as a professional ballerina, and studied at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]. She co-founded the company with her MIT classmate [[Tarek Mansour]]. Form D filings give 2018 as the year of incorporation, while Bora Investir gives January 2019 as the founding date.[^1][^2][^3]
### Early life and ballet
Bora Investir, the B3 investor-education site, says she is a native of Joinville and was part of the "Escola do Teatro Bolshoi no Brasil."[^3] Olhar Digital places the school in Joinville: "Antes de ingressar no MIT, em 2014, Luana teve passagem pela Escola de Teatro Bolshoi em Joinville."[^4] On April 20, 2014 the Brazilian talk show De Frente Com Gabi aired an interview with her, described in its listing as a 17-year-old ballerina admitted to MIT's engineering program.[^5] Forbes's profile says she trained as a professional ballerina after high school and performed in a season of Swan Lake in Austria.[^6] Bora Investir says she became a professional dancer of the [[Salzburger Landestheater]] in Austria and performed in Swan Lake ("O Lago dos Cisnes") in mid-2014.[^3] Olhar Digital also says she worked as a professional dancer in Austria.[^4]
### MIT
Olhar Digital says she entered MIT in 2014 and graduated in computer science, and that she worked at Bridgewater and Citadel while still an undergraduate.[^4] Bora Investir describes a bachelor's degree in mathematics and computer science.[^3] Forbes's profile lists a bachelor's degree from MIT.[^6] In the fall 2024 lecture in course 18.642, Tarek Mansour said that Lopes Lara had guest-lectured the course the year before.[^7] Bloomberg Línea reports that she met Mansour at MIT as an undergraduate and that the two worked in an MIT artificial intelligence laboratory.[^8]
### Jobs before Kalshi
Forbes's profile gives her pre-Kalshi role as a quantitative trader at [[Citadel Securities]].[^6] Inc. reports that her interest in prediction markets grew out of internships at quantitative trading firms, naming [[Bridgewater Associates]], [[Five Rings Capital]] and Citadel Securities, and that these roles made her question her career path. She recalled asking herself, "When I’m 50, am I going to be happy?" and said the answer was no.[^9] Bora Investir lists [[Anheuser-Busch InBev]] among her employers, without roles or dates.[^3]
### Origin of the idea and the Y Combinator hackathon
Olhar Digital says the concept arose during the period in 2018 when both founders interned in New York, when they noticed that many financial decisions depended on forecasts about outside events.[^4] Bloomberg Línea describes the proposal as letting investors trade directly on the outcomes of events as a hedge, instead of through financial products that only approximated that exposure.[^8]
The [[Y Combinator]] hackathon recap, dated October 8, 2018, lists "Kalshi" with the description "Opinion gathering platform" under "Three teams won office hours." The team members are Tarek Mansour, Luana Lopes Lara and [[Duncan Cock Foster]].[^10] Y Combinator's company page lists her as a founder in the Winter 2019 batch (W19).[^11] Mansour's March 20, 2025 post on X referred to the company's origin story and said he would share "how we met and Kalshi’s origin story."[^12]
### Public statements
Inc. quotes her: "The biggest dream of ours was having election markets legal in the U.S."[^9] Bloomberg Línea reports that in a 2022 Bloomberg News interview she said a company can reach the market faster on the unregulated path, and that on the regulated path there was only one way, which was to do everything right from the start.[^8]
### Political giving
Federal Election Commission itemized contributions under "Lopes Lara, Luana" and the variants "Lara, Luana Lopes," "Lopes-Lara, Luana" and "Lara, Luana Lopez" run from July 17, 2024 through July 6, 2026. ActBlue and WinRed conduit lines repeat candidate-committee lines, and NRSC transfers attributed to NRSC Victory repeat the NRSC Victory receipt. Counting each dollar once, the contributions total about 487,000 dollars: about 419,000 to Republican committees and candidates and about 68,000 to Democratic ones. Her occupation field reads engineer in 2024 and 2026 records, co-founder in June 2025 and chief operating officer in July 2026.[^13]
- July 17, 2024: 291 dollars to Trump National Committee JFC and 261.90 dollars to Never Surrender, Inc., the committee that received the joint fundraising transfer.
- June 23, 2025: 5,000 dollars to Lummis for Wyoming (through WinRed).
- September 2, 2025: 7,000 dollars to Angie Craig for Minnesota (through ActBlue).
- March 3, 2026: 100,000 dollars to the Republican National Committee, in two records (55,700 dollars to its legal proceedings account and 44,300 dollars to its general account).
- March 30 to 31, 2026: 7,000 dollars each to the committees of Democrats Lori Trahan, Emily Randall, Andrea Salinas, Darren Soto and Vargas, and 5,000 dollars to Willamette Valley PAC.
- April 29, 2026: 250,000 dollars to NRSC Victory, a joint fundraising committee, which passed it to the [[National Republican Senatorial Committee]] the same day in three parts (132,900 dollars to its legal proceedings account, 72,800 dollars to its headquarters account and 44,300 dollars to its general account). Tarek Mansour's records show the identical 250,000 dollar contribution and split one day earlier, on April 28.
- May 19 to June 16, 2026: 3,500 to 7,000 dollars per record to about twenty candidate committees, Republican (Andy Harris, Scott DesJarlais, Mary Miller, Warren Davidson, Andy Ogles, Barry Moore, Ben Cline, Nick Begich, Brandon Gill, Mark Harris, Stutzman) and Democratic (Shomari Figures, Vindman, Mannion, Yvette Clarke).
- July 6, 2026: 16,500 dollars to the NRSC headquarters account, attributed to the Hyde-Smith Victory Committee, and 5,000 dollars to Conservatives Harvesting Success PAC.
The NRSC, NRSC Victory and Hyde-Smith amounts match Mansour's records dollar for dollar.[^13]
### Wealth
Bloomberg Línea reported in December 2025 that the Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimated her net worth at about 1.3 billion dollars, based on a stake of about 12 percent.[^8] Forbes's real-time profile, dated October 13, 2026, lists her net worth at 2.6 billion dollars.[^6] Forbes Australia wrote on May 12, 2026 that each co-founder was worth about 1.3 billion dollars after the December 2025 round at an 11 billion dollar valuation.[^1] Forbes Australia reports that she became the world's youngest self-made woman billionaire in December 2025, ahead of [[Lucy Guo]].[^1]
### Board and officer roles
Form D filings for Kalshi Inc. list her as an executive officer and director, beginning with the filing signed March 19, 2020.[^2] The October 2025 and August 2026 filings list her in the same roles.[^14][^15] Her FEC records list her as a co-founder in 2025 and as chief operating officer in July 2026.[^13]
### Foreign ties
Forbes's profile gives her citizenship as Brazil.[^6] On April 24, 2026, Brazil's National Monetary Council published Resolution No. 5.298, which bars derivatives tied to sporting, political, electoral, cultural or entertainment events. According to a law firm's summary, the websites of Kalshi and Polymarket were blocked in the country.[^16]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Forbes Australia, "Kalshi billionaire cofounders double their net worths with another funding round," by Alicia Park, May 12, 2026. https://www.forbes.com.au/news/billionaires/kalshi-billionaire-cofounders-double-their-net-worths-with-another-funding-round/
[^2]: SEC Form D, Kalshi Inc. (CIK 0001806928), first sale March 4, 2020, signed March 19, 2020 by Tarek Mansour as Chief Executive Officer; Delaware corporation, year of incorporation 2018. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1806928/000180692820000001/primary_doc.xml
[^3]: Bora Investir (B3 investor-education site), "Bilionária self-made mais jovem do mundo: quem é Luana Lopes Lara, brasileira que foi de SC ao MIT." https://borainvestir.b3.com.br/noticias/bilionaria-selfmade-mais-jovem-do-mundo-quem-e-luana-lopes-lara-brasileira-que-foi-de-sc-ao-mit/
[^4]: Olhar Digital, "Brasileira vira bilionária aos 29 após criar plataforma de apostas," December 4, 2025. https://olhardigital.com.br/2025/12/04/pro/brasileira-vira-bilionaria-aos-29-apos-criar-plataforma-de-apostas/
[^5]: thetvdb.com episode listing, De Frente Com Gabi (SBT), aired April 20, 2014: "Marília Gabriela recebe Luana Lopes Lara." https://thetvdb.com/series/310982-show/episodes/5607997
[^6]: Forbes, profile of Luana Lopes Lara, real-time net worth as of 10/13/26 of $2.6B, citizenship listed as Brazil, education listed as a bachelor's degree from MIT, prior career "quantitative trader at Citadel Securities." https://www.forbes.com/profile/luana-lopes-lara/
[^7]: MIT OpenCourseWare, transcript of "18.642 Lecture 20," guest lecture by Tarek Mansour in Topics in Mathematics with Applications in Finance, fall 2024. https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/18-642-topics-in-mathematics-with-applications-in-finance-fall-2024/13AaI2uSrRerVN1lBm8bDHaIn0CLv4MQJ_transcript.pdf and the lecture listing at https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/18-642-topics-in-mathematics-with-applications-in-finance-fall-2024/pages/lecture-videos/ (Lecture 20 is titled "Building the First Federally (CFTC) Regulated Exchange Dedicated to Trading on Events").
[^8]: Bloomberg Línea (Brazil), "Como a brasileira Luana Lopes Lara ganhou holofote global com o mercado de previsões," December 5, 2025. https://www.bloomberglinea.com.br/2025/12/05/como-a-brasileira-luana-lopes-lara-ganhou-holofote-global-com-o-mercado-de-previsoes/
[^9]: Inc., "Inside the 3-year battle to legalize America's most controversial prediction market," reprinted on a Beehiiv newsletter. https://inc-1-smart-business-story.beehiiv.com/p/inside-the-3-year-battle-to-legalize-america-s-most-controversial-prediction-market
[^10]: Y Combinator, "October 2018 Hackathon Recap," dated October 8, 2018, listing under "Three teams won office hours." https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/october-2018-hackathon-recap
[^11]: Y Combinator, company page for Kalshi, batch Winter 2019 (W19), founders listed as Luana Lopes Lara and Tarek Mansour. https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/kalshi
[^12]: Tarek Mansour (@mansourtarek_), post on X dated March 20, 2025, text as shown in the public embed. https://x.com/mansourtarek_/status/1902515335560880431
[^13]: Federal Election Commission, itemized individual contributions (Schedule A) under the contributor name "LOPES LARA, LUANA" and variants, cycles 2024 and 2026, retrieved October 13, 2026 through the OpenFEC API. https://api.open.fec.gov/v1/schedules/schedule_a/
[^14]: SEC Form D, Kalshi Inc., filed October 23, 2025, related persons Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara (Executive Officer, Director), Alfred Lin, Michael Seibel and Matt Huang (Director). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1806928/000123191925000344/primary_doc.xml
[^15]: SEC Form D, Kalshi Inc., filed August 25, 2026, same related persons and roles as the October 23, 2025 filing. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1806928/000123191926001066/primary_doc.xml
[^16]: Campos Thomaz, "CMN bans prediction markets in Brazil, blocking access to Polymarket and Kalshi," April 24, 2026, citing CMN Resolução No. 5.298. https://camposthomaz.com/en/conhecimento-ct/cmn-bans-prediction-markets-in-brazil-blocking-access-to-polymarket-and-kalshi/

6
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Mercer family.md
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@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ relations:
role: "Rebekah Mercer, person with significant control holding 75 percent or more"
fn: 29
created: 2026-10-01
updated: 2026-10-01
updated: 2026-10-13
---
The Mercer family is the family of Robert Mercer, who was a co-chief executive of the hedge fund [[Renaissance Technologies]] until he announced in November 2017 that he would step down, and his daughters Rebekah Mercer and Jennifer Mercer; a Heather Mercer appears with them as a director of the family's private foundation and as a beneficiary of a trust holding shares in [[Emerdata]].[^1][^2] The family's records include a private foundation, a series of federal super PAC and party contributions, an investment in the data company [[Cambridge Analytica]], a role in the social network [[Parler]], and a private equity vehicle, [[1789 Capital]], of which Rebekah Mercer is a managing member of the general partner.[^2][^3][^4][^5][^6]
@ -176,6 +176,8 @@ In November 2020 [[Newsweek]] reported, citing people familiar with the matter w
A Form D filed on February 9, 2023 by 1789 Capital Fund I, LP of Palm Beach, Florida lists [[Omeed Malik]], Rebekah Mercer and [[Christopher Buskirk]] each as executive officer, director, promoter and managing member of the general partner, with a first sale on January 31, 2023, $100,000,000 offered and $10,000,000 sold to one investor at a minimum of $1,000,000.[^6] Two further Forms D filed on June 10, 2024 by 1789 Capital Co-Invest I, LP and 1789 Capital BH, LP list her as manager of the general partner; the first reports $2,162,000 sold to seven investors and the second $9,700,000 of a $10,000,000 offering sold to 28 investors.[^31]
Forms D/A for 1789 Capital Fund I, LP filed on October 21, 2025 and December 15, 2025 each list Omeed Malik and Christopher Buskirk as executive officers, each described as "a principal of the general partner of the issuer." Rebekah Mercer is not listed in either amendment. Both report an indefinite offering and 270,514,000 dollars sold to 71 investors.[^32] On August 26, 2025 the firm made a strategic investment in [[Polymarket]], and [[Donald Trump Jr.]], a 1789 partner since November 2024, joined that company's advisory board.[^33]
### Footnotes
[^1]: House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, *Disinformation and "fake news": Final Report*, HC 1791, February 18, 2019, paragraph 286 and note 327 (describing "Jennifer and Rebekah Mercer (daughters of financier Robert Mercer)" as directors of Emerdata and listing trusts for the benefit of Rebekah, Jennifer and Heather Mercer among its shareholders as of August 10, 2018). https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmcumeds/1791/1791.pdf
@ -209,3 +211,5 @@ A Form D filed on February 9, 2023 by 1789 Capital Fund I, LP of Palm Beach, Flo
[^29]: Companies House, DYNAMO RECOVERIES LIMITED (company number 13246135), incorporated March 4, 2021, SIC 74990 non-trading company, registered office Suite 21, 60 Churchill Square, Kings Hill, West Malling; persons with significant control (Terence William Donal Blaney, March 4 to March 12, 2021; Rebekah Mercer, from March 12, 2021, 75 percent or more of shares and votes); officers including Jacquelyn James-Varga and Jennifer Lynne Mercer (each appointed March 12, 2021), viewed October 1, 2026. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/13246135/persons-with-significant-control
[^30]: "Parler Reportedly Backed by Mercers, Same Family That Funded Cambridge Analytica," *Newsweek*, November 2020 (reporting the account of the *Wall Street Journal* and statements of John Matze and Rebekah Mercer). https://www.newsweek.com/parler-reportedly-backed-mercers-same-family-that-funded-cambridge-analytica-1547519
[^31]: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Forms D filed June 10, 2024: 1789 Capital Co-Invest I, LP (CIK 0002026273), accession no. 0002026273-24-000001 ($2,162,000 sold; seven investors) and 1789 Capital BH, LP (CIK 0002025959), accession no. 0002025959-24-000001 ($9,700,000 sold of $10,000,000; 28 investors; Rebekah Mercer listed as manager of 1789 Capital Fund I GP, LLC). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2026273/000202627324000001/primary_doc.xml
[^32]: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Forms D/A, 1789 Capital Fund I, LP (CIK 0001965234): accession 0001965234-25-000002, filed October 21, 2025, https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1965234/000196523425000002/primary_doc.xml ; accession 0001965234-25-000004, filed December 15, 2025. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1965234/000196523425000004/primary_doc.xml
[^33]: "Donald Trump Jr. invests in Polymarket and joins advisory board," The Block, August 26, 2025, https://www.theblock.co/post/368292/donald-trump-jr-invests-in-polymarket-and-joins-advisory-board ; "Donald Trump Jr. is joining a venture capital firm that focuses on conservative audiences," Fortune, November 12, 2024. https://www.fortune.com/2024/11/12/donald-trump-jr-venture-capital-1789-capital

152
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Tarek Mansour.md Normal file
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@ -0,0 +1,152 @@
---
aliases:
- Tarek Mansour
- "Mansour, Tarek"
category: "Business & Finance"
tags:
- Person
- TarekMansour
- Kalshi
- PredictionMarkets
- MIT
- YCombinator
- CFTC
- Billionaires
- Lebanon
summary: "Co-founder and chief executive of Kalshi, a CFTC-regulated event-contract exchange, who studied at MIT, worked at Goldman Sachs and Citadel, and was listed by Forbes in 2025 as a self-made billionaire."
location: "New York, New York"
created: 2026-10-13
updated: 2026-10-13
relations:
- type: founded
with: "[[Kalshi]]"
role: "co-founder"
start: 2018
fn: 2
- type: head_of
with: "[[Kalshi]]"
role: "chief executive officer"
start: 2020-03
fn: 2
- type: director_of
with: "[[Kalshi]]"
role: "director, listed on Form D filings"
start: 2020-03
fn: 11
- type: partner_of
with: "[[Luana Lopes Lara]]"
role: "co-founder of Kalshi"
start: 2018
fn: 20
- type: participant_in
with: "[[Y Combinator]]"
role: "office-hours team at the October 2018 hackathon; Winter 2019 batch (W19)"
start: 2018-10
fn: 6
- type: participant_in
with: "[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]"
role: "student; bachelor's degree class of 2018, master of engineering class of 2019"
end: 2019
fn: 3
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Citadel]]"
role: "trader before founding Kalshi"
end: 2018
fn: 1
---
Tarek Mansour is the co-founder and chief executive of [[Kalshi]], a company that operates an exchange for event contracts under the rules of the [[Commodity Futures Trading Commission]]. He was born in California, grew up in [[Lebanon]], studied at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]], and worked in trading at [[Goldman Sachs]] and [[Citadel]] before he and [[Luana Lopes Lara]] incorporated the company in Delaware in 2018.[^1][^2]
### Origins
In a guest lecture to the fall 2024 course 18.642, Topics in Mathematics with Applications in Finance, at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mansour said: "So I was born in California. I grew up in Lebanon."[^1] He said he had loved math since middle school and high school, and that MIT was the place to pursue it. The course instructor, [[Peter Kempthorne]], introduced him as a former student of the class who "joined really the giants of Wall Street, Goldman Sachs, Citadel, and Bridgewater" on leaving MIT and who "three years ago" started Kalshi with Luana Lopes Lara.[^1] Mansour said: "I know Lara did last year, and I think I did the year before that."[^1]
### MIT
An MIT News reprint of a December 2025 Forbes article lists him as "Tarek Mansour ’18, MNG ’19," alongside Lopes Lara.[^3] Forbes's profile of him lists a bachelor's and a master's degree from MIT.[^4] The MIT DSpace repository holds a 2019 master of engineering thesis by "Mansour, Tarek" in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, titled "Deep neural networks are lazy: on the inductive bias of deep learning." The thesis was supervised by [[Aleksander Madry]] and runs 78 pages.[^5] The record gives the author as "Mansour, Tarek," M.Eng., 2019, matching the class note.
### Early jobs
In the lecture Mansour said he worked on the "sell side or buy side, so banks like Goldman Sachs," and then at Citadel and at "small prop shops." Kempthorne's introduction also named [[Bridgewater Associates]].[^1] He said: "I realized I prefer building more," meaning he preferred building new products to trading. He said of the Citadel offer: "Citadel pays a lot of money. Even as a first timer, it's crazy." He said: "I didn't come from a very privileged background." He gave a 2016 example of the demand for event exposure: "One example in 2016 is that a lot of people were actually trying to get a hedge or an exposure to Brexit." Investors used stocks and options as a stand-in, he said: "It was a proxy. It was indirect, and it was super expensive because it was what we call over-the-counter, OTC traded."[^1]
### Founding and the Y Combinator hackathon
Mansour described the idea as a question of "What if we had a financial market that prices basically any question about the future, any event that is in the horizon that is meaningful economically or socially or culturally?"[^1] He said the founders "called pretty much every single securities/derivatives lawyer in the country," and that the answers ranged "all the way to, hey, this is just not going to work." On leaving Citadel he said: "I didn't go back to Citadel, and so we just decided to start Kalshi."[^1] About his co-founder he said: "She's always been risk-loving."[^1]
The [[Y Combinator]] hackathon recap, dated October 8, 2018, lists "Kalshi" with the description "Opinion gathering platform" under "Three teams won office hours." The listed team members are Tarek Mansour, Luana Lopes Lara and [[Duncan Cock Foster]].[^6] Y Combinator's company page lists Mansour and Lopes Lara as founders in the Winter 2019 batch (W19).[^7] A Duncan Cock Foster co-founded the NFT marketplace Nifty Gateway with his brother Griffin, which was sold to Gemini in a deal announced November 19, 2019; the records found do not establish whether he is the hackathon teammate of the same name.[^8][^9]
On March 20, 2025, as [[Michael Seibel]] was stepping back from Y Combinator, Mansour wrote on X: "Without @mwseibel, Kalshi wouldn’t exist, and Luana and I are forever grateful for his guidance throughout the years." He wrote that he would share "how we met and Kalshi’s origin story."[^10] Seibel is listed as a director of Kalshi in the company's Form D filings.[^11]
### Regulatory fight and public statements
In a June 2026 interview with [[Front Office Sports]], Mansour said: "We feel very confident about the legal analysis." He said "preemption is very clear, and I think breaking that preemption would have more dramatic consequences on CFTC-regulated exchanges," and that "suing the government is not a decision we took lightly."[^12]
On sports contracts he said: "We ban athletes from trading on their leagues." He compared the model with sportsbooks: "They're betting against their consumers and they ban winners. They make more from the losers." He also said: "Clearly, consumers are asking for this product," and "I think banning minors, unequivocally, is the right move."[^12]
At an Axios event in Washington, reported by The National on July 14, 2026, Mansour said: "Our best inflation forecaster is a random guy in Kansas, has a blue-collar job and never really traded on the financial markets." Asked about a Wall Street Journal story reporting that most customers lose money, he said: "I find this sort of point funny, right?"[^13]
Asked about [[Donald Trump Jr.]] in the same interview, Mansour said: "He's not involved in regulatory in any way, shape, or form."[^12]
On January 7, 2026, Mansour wrote on LinkedIn that Kalshi supported a bill by [[Ritchie Torres]] "to affirm the ban on insider trading on prediction markets." He wrote: "Why? Because we already implement it." He added that "this American bill only applies to regulated, American companies and not to unregulated, non-American companies, which is where the alleged issues are occurring."[^14]
### Congressional and regulatory filings
Democratic members of the [[Senate Banking Committee]], led by Ranking Member [[Elizabeth Warren]], asked Chair [[Tim Scott]] on September 23, 2026 for a public hearing on prediction markets. The letter states: "The reports claim that executives from Kalshi will be in attendance," and asks for "a public hearing" on a "bipartisan basis" rather than a "Republican-only, industry-friendly roundtable." It cites a Punchbowl News report of September 18, 2026 that Scott planned a roundtable that week with only Republican members. The other signers were [[Catherine Cortez Masto]], [[Jack Reed]], [[Mark Warner]], [[Chris Van Hollen]], [[Tina Smith]], [[Raphael Warnock]], [[Andy Kim]], [[Ruben Gallego]], [[Lisa Blunt Rochester]] and [[Angela Alsobrooks]].[^15]
Bloomberg Government reported on June 2, 2026 that "Republicans will hear from Kalshi founder and CEO Tarek Mansour," at a House Financial Services Committee prediction-market roundtable for Republicans.[^16]
Kalshi's comments to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in 2026 on two CFTC dockets are catalogued on regulations.gov under the company's name. The comments on docket CFTC-2026-1189 are dated July 27, 2026, and the comment on docket CFTC-2026-1453 was received July 31, 2026.[^17]
### Political giving
Federal Election Commission itemized contributions under the name "Mansour, Tarek" run from August 28, 2020 through July 8, 2026, with the employer given as Kalshi and the occupation as CEO from 2025. The first record is a 25 dollar ActBlue earmark for the Biden Victory Fund dated August 28, 2020, when the donor listed himself as not employed. ActBlue and WinRed conduit lines repeat the candidate-committee lines, and NRSC transfers attributed to NRSC Victory repeat the NRSC Victory receipt. Counting each dollar once, the contributions total about 747,000 dollars: about 466,000 to Republican committees and candidates, about 278,000 to Democratic ones, and 3,300 to the 2023 Kennedy presidential committee.[^18]
The largest items, all 2026 unless stated:
- January 21: 44,300 dollars to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
- January 20: 19,000 dollars to New York Majority Fund (through ActBlue).
- March 25 to 31: 26,000 dollars to Blue Dog Victory Fund, 22,000 dollars to Steil Victory Fund, 10,000 dollars to the Republican Party of Wisconsin, and 5,000 dollars each to Blue Dog PAC, Jersey Values PAC and On Wisconsin PAC.
- April 28: 250,000 dollars to NRSC Victory, a joint fundraising committee. The same day the committee passed the money to the [[National Republican Senatorial Committee]] in three parts (132,900 dollars to its legal proceedings account, 72,800 dollars to its headquarters account and 44,300 dollars to its general account).
- July 8: 16,500 dollars to the NRSC headquarters account, attributed to the Hyde-Smith Victory Committee, and 5,000 dollars to Conservatives Harvesting Success PAC.
From January through June 2026 he also gave 3,500 to 7,000 dollars per record to about forty House and Senate candidate committees of both parties, among them Democratic candidates Jim Costa, Adam Gray, Pete Aguilar, Salud Carbajal, Jimmy Panetta, Tom Suozzi and Yvette Clarke, and Republican candidates Bryan Steil, Andy Harris, Scott DesJarlais, Mary Miller, Warren Davidson and Andy Ogles. In 2025 he gave to the committees of Tom Cotton (7,000 dollars, plus 15,000 dollars to Cotton Majority Committee), Ken Paxton, Cynthia Lummis, Angie Craig and Whatley for Senate. In 2022 he gave to the committees of Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker, Debbie Stabenow and Sean Patrick Maloney (Democrats) and John Boozman and John Thune (Republicans).[^18]
### Wealth
Forbes's real-time profile, dated October 13, 2026, lists his net worth at 2.6 billion dollars, with the source of wealth given as "Prediction markets, Self Made."[^4] A May 2026 Forbes article, reprinted by Forbes Australia, says each co-founder owns roughly 12 percent of Kalshi and was worth about 1.3 billion dollars after a December 2025 funding round at an 11 billion dollar valuation.[^19]
### Board and officer roles
Kalshi's Form D filings list Mansour as an executive officer and director. He signed the first of these, filed March 19, 2020, as chief executive officer.[^2] The October 2025 and August 2026 filings list him in the same roles, alongside [[Alfred Lin]], [[Matt Huang]] and Michael Seibel as directors.[^11][^20]
### Foreign ties
Mansour said in the lecture that he grew up in Lebanon, and The National described him in July 2026 as a "Lebanese-American chief executive."[^1][^13]
### Same-name records
A different Tarek Mansour, described as a senior partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers Egypt with more than 40 years of experience as a business advisor, appears in a biography PDF hosted on the website of the Egyptian Financial Regulatory Authority. The biography lists board seats including the National Investment Bank, Misr Asset Management Co. and the Egyptian Insurance Supervisory Authority.[^21] Career, age and location differ from the Kalshi co-founder's.
### Footnotes
[^1]: MIT OpenCourseWare, transcript of "18.642 Lecture 20," guest lecture by Tarek Mansour in Topics in Mathematics with Applications in Finance, fall 2024. https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/18-642-topics-in-mathematics-with-applications-in-finance-fall-2024/13AaI2uSrRerVN1lBm8bDHaIn0CLv4MQJ_transcript.pdf and the lecture listing at https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/18-642-topics-in-mathematics-with-applications-in-finance-fall-2024/pages/lecture-videos/ (Lecture 20 is titled "Building the First Federally (CFTC) Regulated Exchange Dedicated to Trading on Events").
[^2]: SEC Form D, Kalshi Inc. (CIK 0001806928), first sale March 4, 2020, signed March 19, 2020 by Tarek Mansour as Chief Executive Officer; Delaware corporation, year of incorporation 2018. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1806928/000180692820000001/primary_doc.xml
[^3]: MIT News, "In the Media" entry reprinting Forbes, "How Kalshi's Cofounder Went From Professional Ballerina To World's Youngest Self-Made Woman Billionaire," December 2025. https://news.mit.edu/news-clip/forbes-814
[^4]: Forbes, profile of Tarek Mansour, real-time net worth as of 10/13/26 of $2.6B, source of wealth "Prediction markets, Self Made," education listed as bachelor's and master's degrees from MIT. https://www.forbes.com/profile/tarek-mansour/
[^5]: MIT DSpace, "Deep neural networks are lazy: on the inductive bias of deep learning," M.Eng. thesis, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2019, by "Mansour, Tarek," advisor Aleksander Madry, 78 pages. https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/121680
[^6]: Y Combinator, "October 2018 Hackathon Recap," dated October 8, 2018, listing under "Three teams won office hours." https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/october-2018-hackathon-recap
[^7]: Y Combinator, company page for Kalshi, batch Winter 2019 (W19), founders listed as Luana Lopes Lara and Tarek Mansour. https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/kalshi
[^8]: The Block, "Winklevoss brothers acquire crypto collectible startup," November 19, 2019: "The acquired firm, Nifty Gateway, was founded by brothers Duncan and Griffin Cock Foster." https://www.theblock.co/linked/47589/
[^9]: Fortune, NFTY 50 (2021), "Duncan & Griffin Cock Foster": "The pair sold their site to crypto company Gemini in 2019." https://fortune.com/nfty-50/2021/duncan-griffin-cock-foster/
[^10]: Tarek Mansour (@mansourtarek_), post on X dated March 20, 2025, text as shown in the public embed. https://x.com/mansourtarek_/status/1902515335560880431
[^11]: SEC Form D, Kalshi Inc., filed October 23, 2025, related persons Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara (Executive Officer, Director), Alfred Lin, Michael Seibel and Matt Huang (Director). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1806928/000123191925000344/primary_doc.xml
[^12]: Front Office Sports, "Kalshi's Tarek Mansour Talks Giannis, Don Jr., Supreme Court," June 19, 2026, Q&A at Kalshi's New York offices. https://frontofficesports.com/kalshis-tarek-mansour-talks-giannis-don-jr-supreme-court/
[^13]: The National, "Prediction markets here to stay, Kalshi CEO Mansour says," by Cody Combs, Washington, July 14, 2026. https://www.thenationalnews.com/future/technology/2026/07/14/kalshi-ceo-tarek-mansour-lebanon/
[^14]: Covers, "Kalshi CEO Backs Bill to Curb Prediction Market Insider Trading," January 7, 2026, quoting a LinkedIn post by Tarek Mansour on the bill introduced by Rep. Ritchie Torres. https://www.covers.com/industry/prediction-markets-insider-trading-bill-kalshi-support-iga-concerns-january-2026
[^15]: Letter from Democratic members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs to Chair Tim Scott, September 23, 2026, requesting a public hearing on prediction markets (signed by Elizabeth Warren and other members). https://www.banking.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2026.09.23%20Letter%20to%20Chair%20Scott%20re%20Prediction%20Market%20Roundtable.pdf
[^16]: Bloomberg Government, report on a House Financial Services Committee prediction-market roundtable for Republicans, June 2, 2026. https://news.bgov.com/bloomberg-government-news/house-financial-services-gop-host-prediction-market-roundtable
[^17]: Regulations.gov, comments by Kalshi on CFTC docket CFTC-2026-1189 ("Prediction Markets; Public Interest Determinations," comments 0365, 0366, 0368, 0369 and 0380, received July 27, 2026) and CFTC-2026-1453 ("Data Reporting Requirements for Certain Event Contracts," comment 0034, received July 31, 2026). https://www.regulations.gov/comment/CFTC-2026-1189-0365 and https://www.regulations.gov/comment/CFTC-2026-1453-0034
[^18]: Federal Election Commission, itemized individual contributions (Schedule A) under the contributor name "MANSOUR, TAREK," 161 records across cycles 2018 to 2026, retrieved October 13, 2026 through the OpenFEC API. https://api.open.fec.gov/v1/schedules/schedule_a/
[^19]: Forbes Australia, "Kalshi billionaire cofounders double their net worths with another funding round," by Alicia Park, May 12, 2026. https://www.forbes.com.au/news/billionaires/kalshi-billionaire-cofounders-double-their-net-worths-with-another-funding-round/
[^20]: SEC Form D, Kalshi Inc., filed August 25, 2026, same related persons and roles as the October 23, 2025 filing. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1806928/000123191926001066/primary_doc.xml
[^21]: Biography PDF of a Tarek Mansour, hosted at fra.gov.eg (website of the Egyptian Financial Regulatory Authority), uploaded August 2022. https://fra.gov.eg/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/My-bio.pdf

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---
created: 2026-10-13
updated: 2026-10-13
title: Brian Quintenz
aliases:
- Brian Quintenz
- Brian D. Quintenz
- Quintenz
category: "Business & Finance"
tags:
- Person
- Quintenz
- CFTC
- Kalshi
- a16z
- CryptoPolicy
- PredictionMarkets
- Winklevoss
- TrumpAdministration
summary: "Brian Quintenz was a CFTC commissioner from 2017 to 2021, then a16z crypto's head of policy and a Kalshi director; his 2025 nomination to chair the CFTC was withdrawn."
relations:
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Commodity Futures Trading Commission]]"
start: 2017-08-15
end: 2021-08-31
role: "commissioner"
fn: 1
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Andreessen Horowitz]]"
start: 2021-09
role: "advisory partner at a16z crypto from September 2021; head of policy from December 2022"
fn: 3
- type: director_of
with: "[[Kalshi]]"
start: 2021-11-16
role: "board member; holder of stock options as of August 2025"
fn: 4
- type: director_of
with: "[[SUI Group]]"
start: 2026-01-05
role: "independent director and audit committee member"
fn: 11
---
Brian D. Quintenz is an American former regulator and crypto policy executive. He was a commissioner of the [[Commodity Futures Trading Commission]] (CFTC) from 2017 to 2021, then led policy at [[a16z crypto]], the crypto unit of [[Andreessen Horowitz]], and has sat on the board of the prediction market [[Kalshi]] since November 2021. [[Donald Trump]] named him to chair the CFTC in February 2025 and the White House withdrew the nomination on September 30, 2025.
### Commissioner, 2017 to 2021
Quintenz served as a commissioner from August 15, 2017 to August 31, 2021, in a seat whose term ran from April 15, 2015 to April 15, 2020.[^1] He was nominated by both Presidents Obama and Trump, was confirmed unanimously by the Senate, and led the CFTC's Technology Advisory Committee.[^2]
### a16z crypto
On September 9, 2021 a16z crypto announced that Quintenz had joined as an advisory partner; on December 5, 2022 it announced that he had accepted the full-time position of head of policy.[^2][^3]
### Kalshi Board
On November 16, 2021 Kalshi announced that Quintenz had joined its board of directors. The announcement called him "a leading advocate for sensible and risk-calibrated regulation" and credited him with a "tour de force analysis of prediction markets"; a Kalshi representative declined to disclose the other board members.[^4] The seven Form D filings of Kalshi Inc., dated March 19, 2020 through August 25, 2026, do not list Quintenz among their related persons.[^5]
### Nomination, 2025
In February 2025 Trump named Quintenz as his choice to chair the CFTC. A Senate Agriculture Committee hearing on the nomination was held in June 2025.[^6] In a letter dated May 21, 2025 to the CFTC's designated agency ethics official describing the steps he would take to avoid conflicts, Quintenz wrote: "I will not participate personally and substantially in any particular matter that to my knowledge has a direct and predictable effect on the financial interests of [Kalshi]," and that he would not participate in any matter involving Kalshi for one year.[^7]
On August 4, 2025 Representative [[Dina Titus]], co-chair of the Congressional Gaming Caucus, wrote to Acting Chairwoman [[Caroline Pham]] that Quintenz "is currently on the board of Kalshi and holds stock options in the company." The letter listed three CFTC actions since the February nomination: settling lawsuits with Kalshi, approving new prediction market platforms and closing investigations, with citations to the May 5, 2025 move to drop the Kalshi appeal, the approval of the exchange Railbird, and the July 2025 closure of the Polymarket investigations. It cited a Freedom of Information Act request by the newsletter The Closing Line as indicating that Quintenz "has sought information regarding Kalshi's competitors," and asked for the release of his communications on prediction markets and event contracts and for review by the CFTC inspector general.[^7]
Quintenz has said he would leave the Kalshi board if confirmed, and emails that surfaced in July 2025 suggested that an associate may have sought non-public CFTC information about Kalshi's competitors, according to The Block.[^8]
### Withdrawal
The White House asked the Senate Agriculture Committee to delay a vote on the nomination in July 2025. [[Tyler Winklevoss]], co-founder of the exchange [[Gemini]], told The Block on July 31, 2025: "He's the wrong person for this nomination and to chair the CFTC" and "His policy is not in line with the stated goals and policy of President Trump and the Trump administration."[^8] Quintenz later published private messages with the Winklevoss brothers on X and stated: "I believe these texts make it clear what they were after from me, and what I refused to promise," and "It's my understanding that after this exchange, they contacted the president and asked that my confirmation be paused for reasons other than what is reflected in these texts." The messages concerned Gemini's civil case with the CFTC, which Gemini had settled for 5 million dollars in January 2025.[^9]
The White House withdrew the nomination on September 30, 2025. Quintenz told Cointelegraph: "I look forward to returning to my private sector endeavors during this exciting time for innovation in our country."[^9] [[Michael Selig]] was nominated to the post on October 27, 2025 and confirmed on December 18, 2025, according to the CFTC.[^10]
### SUI Group
On January 5, 2026 the board of [[SUI Group]] (Nasdaq: SUIG) appointed Quintenz as a director, effective immediately, to serve on its audit committee. The company's Form 8-K states that he "currently serves on the board of directors for Kalshi."[^11]
### Footnotes
[^1]: CFTC, "Former Commissioners." https://www.cftc.gov/About/Commissioners/FormerCommissioners/index.htm
[^2]: "Brian Quintenz, a16z crypto's New Head of Policy," a16z crypto, December 5, 2022. https://a16zcrypto.com/brian-quintenz-new-head-of-policy/
[^3]: "Fresh out of the CFTC, Brian Quintenz joins a16z Crypto's advisory team," *The Block*, September 9, 2021. https://www.theblock.co/amp/linked/117098/fresh-out-of-the-cftc-brian-quintenz-joins-a16z-cryptos-advisory-team
[^4]: "Brian Quintenz joins board of the first CFTC-regulated events market," *The Block*, November 16, 2021. https://www.theblock.co/post/124482/brian-quintenz-joins-board-of-the-first-cftc-regulated-events-market
[^5]: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR, Forms D of Kalshi Inc. (CIK 1806928), filed March 19, 2020, February 23, 2021, October 23, 2025, October 30, 2025, November 6, 2025, December 4, 2025 and August 25, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=1806928&type=D
[^6]: Letter from Rep. Dina Titus to Acting Chairwoman Caroline D. Pham, August 4, 2025 ("Since Mr. Quintenz's nomination in February"), https://titus.house.gov/uploadedfiles/8.4.25_quintenz_letter_1.pdf ; "Trump admin withdraws Brian Quintenz as CFTC nominee," *Cointelegraph*, September 30, 2025 (photo caption: nomination hearing in June). https://cointelegraph.com/news/white-house-pulls-brian-quintenz-cftc-nominee
[^7]: Letter from Rep. Dina Titus to Acting Chairwoman Caroline D. Pham, August 4, 2025, quoting Quintenz's letter of May 21, 2025 to John Einstman, the CFTC's designated agency ethics official. https://titus.house.gov/uploadedfiles/8.4.25_quintenz_letter_1.pdf
[^8]: Daniel Kuhn, "Tyler Winklevoss has 'serious concerns' over Trump's pick to lead the CFTC, Brian Quintenz," *The Block*, July 31, 2025. https://www.theblock.co/post/365172/tyler-winklevoss-has-serious-concerns-over-trumps-pick-to-lead-the-cftc-brian-quintenz
[^9]: "Trump admin withdraws Brian Quintenz as CFTC nominee," *Cointelegraph*, September 30, 2025 (updated October 1, 2025). https://cointelegraph.com/news/white-house-pulls-brian-quintenz-cftc-nominee
[^10]: CFTC, "Michael Selig Sworn In as 16th CFTC Chairman," Release No. 9164-25, December 22, 2025. https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/9164-25 (read from the Wayback Machine copy, https://web.archive.org/web/2026/https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/9164-25)
[^11]: SUI Group Holdings Ltd., Form 8-K filed January 9, 2026 (accession 0001654954-26-000203), Item 5.02 and Exhibit 99.1 press release dated January 5, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1425355/000165495426000203/suig_8k.htm

16
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/John Poindexter.md
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@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
---
created: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-10-08
updated: 2026-10-13
title: John Poindexter
aliases:
- John Poindexter
@ -26,6 +26,12 @@ relations:
end: 2003-08-29
role: "director, Information Awareness Office"
fn: 3
- type: participant_in
with: "[[Policy Analysis Market]]"
start: 2002
end: 2003-08-29
role: "director of the Information Awareness Office, under which FutureMAP sat; approved the program per Nextgov"
fn: 8
---
John Marlan Poindexter was born August 12, 1936. He graduated first in his class from the [[U.S. Naval Academy]] in 1958 and earned a PhD in nuclear physics from the [[California Institute of Technology]] in 1964. He pursued a naval career that included service in the Pentagon's [[National Security Council]] staff, rising to military assistant to President Reagan's National Security Advisers before assuming the position himself.[^1]
@ -52,9 +58,17 @@ When TIA became publicly known in late 2002, it generated intense opposition fro
The joint explanatory statement lists four projects previously under the office that may continue under DARPA: Bio-Event Advanced Leading Indicator Recognition Technology, Rapid Analytic Wargaming, Wargaming the Asymmetric Environment, and Automated Speech and Text Exploitation in Multiple Languages, including Babylon and Symphony.[^4]
DARPA's May 20, 2003 report to Congress on Terrorism Information Awareness lists FutureMAP, the Information Awareness Office's prediction-market program, among TIA's decision-support projects.[^5] On July 28, 2003 Senator [[Ron Wyden]] told reporters that the program's [[Policy Analysis Market]] was under Poindexter's supervision, and Senator [[John Warner]] said the next day that Poindexter and DARPA director Anthony Tether had personally reviewed it.[^6][^7] Nextgov reported that Poindexter approved FutureMAP and that he was not leading the office when the original solicitation was answered; [[Robin Hanson]], who designed the market, wrote that he had never met him.[^8][^9] The Pentagon abandoned the market on July 29, 2003, and Poindexter's resignation letter to Tether is dated August 12, 2003.[^7][^10]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Tower Commission Report (President's Special Review Board). *The Tower Commission Report*. Bantam Books/Times Books, 1987. U.S. Congress, Joint Committees on Iran-Contra. *Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair*. 100th Congress, 1st Session, 1987.
[^2]: Walsh, Lawrence E. *Firewall: The Iran-Contra Conspiracy and Cover-Up*. W.W. Norton, 1997. Walsh, Lawrence E. *Iran-Contra: The Final Report*. Random House, 1994.
[^3]: Dan Caterinicchia, "Poindexter leaving DARPA," *Nextgov/FCW*, August 13, 2003. https://www.nextgov.com/people/2003/08/poindexter-leaving-darpa/201670/
[^4]: Congressional Record, House, September 24, 2003, Conference Report on H.R. 2658, Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2004 (House Report 108-283), Sec. 8131 and Joint Explanatory Statement. https://sgp.fas.org/congress/2003/tia.html
[^5]: DARPA, "Report to Congress regarding the Terrorism Information Awareness Program," May 20, 2003, Annex B. https://w2.eff.org/Privacy/TIA/TIA-report.html
[^6]: "Pentagon plan to bet on terrorism is blasted," Associated Press, as published by the Deseret News, July 29, 2003. https://www.deseret.com/2003/7/29/19738241/pentagon-plan-to-bet-on-terrorism-is-blasted/
[^7]: "Pentagon Abandons Terrorism Betting Plan," Associated Press, July 29, 2003, as published by KSL. https://www.ksl.com/article/103317
[^8]: "DOD's misguided bet on the future," Nextgov, August 2003. https://www.nextgov.com/people/2003/08/dods-misguided-bet-on-the-future/201748/
[^9]: Robin Hanson, "The Policy Analysis Market (and FutureMAP) Archive," George Mason University. https://mason.gmu.edu/~rhanson/policyanalysismarket.html
[^10]: Dawn S. Onley, "In his resignation, Poindexter defends projects," Government Computer News, August 13, 2003. https://www.route-fifty.com/digital-government/2003/08/in-his-resignation-poindexter-defends-projects/295109/

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@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
---
created: 2026-10-13
updated: 2026-10-13
title: Donald Trump Jr.
aliases:
- Donald Trump Jr.
- Donald John Trump Jr.
- Donald J. Trump Jr.
- Don Jr.
- Don Jr
- Trump Jr.
category: "Business & Finance"
tags:
- Person
- DonaldTrumpJr
- Kalshi
- Polymarket
- 1789Capital
- TruthSocial
- TrumpMedia
- PublicSquare
- GrabAGun
- PredictionMarkets
summary: "Donald Trump Jr. became a partner at 1789 Capital in November 2024, advised Kalshi from January 2025 and Polymarket from August 2025, and is a director of PSQ Holdings and GrabAGun."
relations:
- type: relative_of
with: "[[Donald Trump]]"
role: "son"
fn: 1
- type: partner_of
with: "[[1789 Capital]]"
start: 2024-11
role: "partner"
fn: 1
- type: director_of
with: "[[PSQ Holdings]]"
start: 2024-12-03
role: "Class III director"
fn: 3
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Kalshi]]"
start: 2025-01
role: "strategic adviser; Axios reported the position is paid"
fn: 4
- type: member_of
with: "[[Polymarket]]"
start: 2025-08-26
role: "advisory board"
fn: 8
- type: employed_by
with: "[[GrabAGun Digital Holdings]]"
end: 2025-07-15
role: "consultant to GrabAGun (Metroplex Trading Company LLC) and board nominee"
fn: 13
- type: director_of
with: "[[GrabAGun Digital Holdings]]"
start: 2025-07-15
role: "director, elected at the closing of the business combination"
fn: 14
---
Donald John Trump Jr. is the eldest son of [[Donald Trump]]. After the 2024 election he took roles at the investment firm [[1789 Capital]], the prediction markets [[Kalshi]] and [[Polymarket]], and at the public companies [[PSQ Holdings]] and [[GrabAGun Digital Holdings]], and he is the trustee of the trust that holds his father's shares of [[Trump Media & Technology Group]].
### 1789 Capital
On Sunday, November 10, 2024, Trump Jr. told a crowd of donors that he would join 1789 Capital as a partner, as the New York Times reported; Fortune reported that the partnership meant he would not take a formal role in his father's administration and that the firm then had 150 million dollars to invest.[^1] Reuters reported in September 2025 that the firm's assets had passed 1 billion dollars and that, with his addition, the fund "has gained extraordinary access to political power"; a person close to Trump Jr. told Reuters that he does not discuss his business interests with his father or ask for government favors.[^2]
### PublicSquare
On December 3, 2024 the board of PSQ Holdings, the parent of the commerce platform [[PublicSquare]], enlarged itself from eight to nine members and appointed Trump Jr. a Class III director, with a term to the 2026 annual meeting. [[Omeed Malik]] of 1789 Capital resigned from the same board that day.[^3]
### Kalshi
Trump Jr. joined Kalshi as an adviser in January 2025. He said he "immediately knew I had to contribute to their mission" when Kalshi called his father's win hours before the media did.[^4] Kalshi said his "bold business mindset and deep understanding of market dynamics perfectly align with Kalshi's mission to redefine how America engages with information." Axios reported that the position is paid.[^5] The [[Associated Press]] described him in April 2026 as a paid strategic adviser to Kalshi.[^6] Salon reported in the same article that he had joined the advisory board of the drone maker [[Unusual Machines]] in November 2024, citing CNBC.[^4]
At the time of the announcement Kalshi's appeal of the CFTC's September 2023 disapproval of its congressional control contracts was pending before the D.C. Circuit; on May 5, 2025 the [[Commodity Futures Trading Commission]] moved to drop the appeal, on terms agreed with Kalshi.[^7]
### Polymarket
On August 26, 2025 Polymarket announced that 1789 Capital had made a strategic investment in it and that Trump Jr. had joined its advisory board. The terms were not disclosed. Trump Jr. said: "Polymarket cuts through media spin and so-called 'expert' opinion by letting people bet on what they actually believe will happen in the world." The announcement followed Polymarket's July 2025 acquisition of the CFTC-licensed exchange QCEX for 112 million dollars.[^8][^9] Axios reported that the investment was in the double-digit millions of dollars, and a spokesman for Trump Jr. said that the new role "doesn't change anything regarding Don's role with Kalshi." Kalshi declined to comment.[^5]
The Department of Justice and the CFTC had closed their investigations of Polymarket without charges in early July 2025, according to CNBC, which cited a person familiar with the matter and Bloomberg's earlier report.[^10] The 2025 round of 150 million dollars led by [[Founders Fund]], which Polymarket's chief executive [[Shayne Coplan]] disclosed in October 2025, lists "1789" among its investors.[^11] In September 2026 Covers reported, citing the [[The Wall Street Journal|Wall Street Journal]], that 1789 Capital had invested about 200 million dollars in Polymarket in total and was investing roughly 300 million dollars in a 1 billion dollar round at a valuation of about 21 billion dollars.[^12]
### GrabAGun
In a Form 425 filed April 29, 2025, Trump Jr. is described as a consultant to Metroplex Trading Company LLC, doing business as GrabAGun, and a nominee to the board of GrabAGun Digital Holdings Inc., the planned public company from the business combination with the special purpose acquisition company Colombier Acquisition Corp. II (agreement dated January 6, 2025).[^13] At the closing on July 15, 2025, shareholders of Colombier elected him a director, with 9,775,388 votes for and 36,871 abstentions; the beneficial ownership table in the filing shows 300,000 shares for him, under 1 percent.[^14]
### Trump Media and Truth Predict
In a registration statement filed April 2, 2025, Trump Media & Technology Group stated that 114,750,000 shares of its common stock were transferred by his father on December 17, 2024 to the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust dated April 7, 2014, of which the elder Trump is settlor and sole beneficiary, and that "Donald J. Trump, Jr., President Trump's son, is the trustee of the Trust and has sole voting and investment power over all securities owned by the Trust."[^15]
On October 28, 2025 Trump Media filed a current report on Form 8-K disclosing a press release that it would make prediction markets available on [[Truth Social]] through an exclusive arrangement with [[Crypto.com]] Derivatives North America, a CFTC-registered exchange and clearinghouse. The product, Truth Predict, would list contracts on political elections, interest and inflation rate changes, gold and crude oil prices, and events across major sports leagues. [[Devin Nunes]], chairman and chief executive, said it would let "our loyal users" take part in prediction markets "with a trusted network."[^16]
### Congressional Inquiry
On August 26, 2026 Representative [[Jamie Raskin]] sent Trump Jr., Malik and [[Christopher Buskirk]] a letter requesting documents on the growth of 1789 Capital and on the firm's hiring of Trump Jr., with answers due September 9. The firm's counsel called the accusations "unsubstantiated talking points." The letter is described on the 1789 Capital page.[^17]
### Footnotes
[^1]: "Donald Trump Jr. is joining a venture capital firm that focuses on conservative audiences," *Fortune*, November 12, 2024, citing the *New York Times*. https://www.fortune.com/2024/11/12/donald-trump-jr-venture-capital-1789-capital
[^2]: Reuters, "Trump-linked venture fund 1789 Capital tops US$1 billion in assets," September 8, 2025, as carried by BNN Bloomberg. https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/2025/09/08/trump-linked-venture-fund-1789-capital-tops-us1-billion-in-assets/
[^3]: PSQ Holdings, Inc., Form 8-K filed December 4, 2024, Item 5.02 (accession 0001213900-24-105264). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1847064/000121390024105264/ea0223566-8k_psq.htm
[^4]: "Donald Trump Jr. joins betting-market startup Kalshi as adviser," *Salon*, January 14, 2025. https://salon.com/2025/01/14/donald-jr-joins-betting-market-startup-kalshi-as-adviser
[^5]: "Donald Trump Jr. announces role at Polymarket," *Front Office Sports*, August 2025, quoting Kalshi's announcement, Axios and a spokesman for Trump Jr. https://frontofficesports.com/article/donald-trump-jr-kalshi-polymarket/
[^6]: Associated Press, "Well-timed bets on Polymarket tied to the Iran war draw calls for investigations from lawmakers," April 2026, syndicated by WTOP. https://wtop.com/national/2026/04/well-timed-bets-on-polymarket-tied-to-the-iran-war-draw-calls-for-investigations-from-lawmakers/
[^7]: "U.S. commodities regulator seeks to drop appeal of Kalshi election bets offers," CNBC, May 5, 2025, as carried by NBC San Diego. https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/business/money-report/u-s-commodities-regulator-seeks-to-drop-appeal-of-kalshi-election-bets-offers/3818910/
[^8]: "Donald Trump Jr. invests in Polymarket and joins advisory board," *The Block*, August 26, 2025. https://www.theblock.co/post/368292/donald-trump-jr-invests-in-polymarket-and-joins-advisory-board
[^9]: "Donald Trump Jr joins Polymarket advisory board after his VC firm makes strategic investment," *CryptoSlate*, as carried by Yahoo Finance, August 26, 2025, quoting the announcement and reporting the QCEX acquisition. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/donald-trump-jr-joins-polymarket-175527312.html
[^10]: "Trump administration ends Polymarket investigations without charges," CNBC, July 15, 2025, as carried by NBC San Diego. https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/business/money-report/trump-administration-ends-polymarket-investigations-without-charges/3868886/
[^11]: "Polymarket discloses past funding rounds totaling $205 million before $2 billion ICE investment," *The Block*, October 2025. https://www.theblock.co/post/373783/polymarket-discloses-past-funding-rounds-totaling-205-million-before-2-billion-ice-investment
[^12]: "Trump Jr.'s Firm Invests $300 Million into Polymarket," Covers, September 1, 2026, citing the Wall Street Journal. https://www.covers.com/industry/trump-jrs-firm-invests-300-million-dollars-into-polymarket-sept-1-2026
[^13]: GrabAGun Digital Holdings Inc., Form 425, April 29, 2025 (Commission File No. 333-286021). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2051380/000121390025036862/ea0240014-425_grabagun.htm
[^14]: GrabAGun Digital Holdings Inc., Form 8-K filed July 18, 2025 (accession 0001213900-25-065768), Items 5.07 (director election results) and 2.01. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2051380/000121390025065768/ea0249488-8k_graba.htm
[^15]: Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., Form S-3 filed April 2, 2025 (accession 0001140361-25-011700), selling stockholder table, note 12. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1849635/000114036125011700/ny20046310x1_s3.htm
[^16]: Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., Form 8-K filed October 28, 2025, Item 7.01 and Exhibit 99.1 (accession 0001140361-25-039596). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1849635/000114036125039596/0001140361-25-039596.txt
[^17]: Jessica Corbett, "Suspecting 'Insider' Dealings and 'Corruption,' Raskin Probes Donald Trump Jr.'s Venture Capital Firm," *Common Dreams*, August 27, 2026. https://www.commondreams.org/news/don-jr-corrupt

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10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Peter Thiel.md
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@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ summary: "Peter Thiel is the German-born investor who cofounded PayPal, Palantir
born: 1967-10-11
location: "Frankfurt, West Germany (born); San Francisco, California (base)"
created: 2026-06-17
updated: 2026-09-25
updated: 2026-10-13
---
Peter Thiel (born October 11, 1967, in [[Frankfurt]], [[West Germany]]) is a German-born American billionaire investor and the central figure of the [[PayPal Mafia]], the informal network of founders and early executives of [[PayPal]] who went on to found or lead much of the subsequent generation of [[Silicon Valley]] companies. Thiel cofounded PayPal, founded the venture capital firm [[Founders Fund]], and cofounded and chairs the data-analytics and defense contractor [[Palantir Technologies]]. In 2006 he cofounded the secret society [[Dialog]] with [[Auren Hoffman]]. He is the most prominent documented financial patron of the neoreactionary philosopher [[Curtis Yarvin]], the founder of [[Neoreaction]] (NRx) and co-originator of the [[Dark Enlightenment]], and his political investments extended to funding the covert lawsuit that destroyed [[Gawker Media]] and bankrolling the U.S. Senate and subsequent vice-presidential campaigns of [[JD Vance]].[^1][^2][^3]
@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ Thiel founded Founders Fund in 2005 with Howery and Nosek. The firm's portfolio
The thesis is set out in the 2014 book *Zero to One*, coauthored by Thiel and Masters, which argues that competition is for losers and that durable value comes from building monopolies around proprietary technology. The framework licenses the fund's preference for capital-intensive, defensibility-focused bets in domains (defense, frontier biotech, sovereign-grade infrastructure) that traditional venture capital had avoided. Founders Fund was the first institutional backer of Anduril Industries, the [[Palmer Luckey]] defense firm that operationalized the same thesis for the Pentagon market, and the firm's defense portfolio is the commercial counterpart to Thiel's argument that state capacity should be rebuilt by private contractors under private control.[^2]
Founders Fund led the 45 million dollar Series B of [[Polymarket]] in May 2024, and in October 2025 Polymarket's chief executive disclosed a 150 million dollar round in 2025 that the firm led at a 1.2 billion dollar valuation.[^5][^6] Reuters reported in September 2025 that Thiel had introduced JD Vance to [[Christopher Buskirk]] and had put millions of dollars into a political committee that paid consulting fees to a Buskirk company; Buskirk is a principal of [[1789 Capital]], which invested in Polymarket in August 2025 and appears among the investors in the 150 million dollar round.[^7]
### Dialog
In 2006 Thiel cofounded the invitation-only secret society Dialog with Hoffman, which convenes U.S. officials, foreign government figures, and Silicon Valley executives at off-the-record annual retreats. The organization operated without a public website and with a deliberately concealed membership until June 2026, when the hacktivist crimew published a membership directory embedded in the Dialog website's source code and a source separately provided *WIRED* with the 222-name registration list for the 2026 retreat. The 2026 registrants included Musk, Harris, Representative Himes, Senator Booker, Senator Cruz, Governor Polis, Levin of Stanford University, and the [[NATO]] Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Grynkewich.[^1]
@ -51,9 +53,9 @@ Dialog's function in the Thiel network is convening: it places the commercial pr
### René Girard and Mimetic Theory
Thiel's intellectual framework derives from the French theorist [[Rene Girard|René Girard]], under whom he studied as a [[Stanford University]] undergraduate in the late 1980s and with whom he kept a lifelong association. Girard's theory of mimetic desire holds that people want things because others want them, that imitation breeds rivalry, and that archaic societies discharged the resulting violence onto scapegoats. Thiel adopted the framework directly: he credits it with his 2004 decision to make the first outside investment in [[Facebook]], which he read as a mimetic engine, and *Zero to One* applies the theory in arguing that competition is a destructive trap and that founders should escape rivalry by building monopolies.[^2][^5]
Thiel's intellectual framework derives from the French theorist [[Rene Girard|René Girard]], under whom he studied as a [[Stanford University]] undergraduate in the late 1980s and with whom he kept a lifelong association. Girard's theory of mimetic desire holds that people want things because others want them, that imitation breeds rivalry, and that archaic societies discharged the resulting violence onto scapegoats. Thiel adopted the framework directly: he credits it with his 2004 decision to make the first outside investment in [[Facebook]], which he read as a mimetic engine, and *Zero to One* applies the theory in arguing that competition is a destructive trap and that founders should escape rivalry by building monopolies.[^2][^8]
Thiel funds Imitatio, a [[Thiel Foundation]] project he established with the theologian [[Robert Hamerton-Kelly]] and Girard to promote mimetic theory. The Girardian reading of crowds and scapegoating recurs across Thiel's public conduct, from his account of his 2007 outing by Gawker to the apocalyptic structure of the Antichrist lectures.[^5][^6]
Thiel funds Imitatio, a [[Thiel Foundation]] project he established with the theologian [[Robert Hamerton-Kelly]] and Girard to promote mimetic theory. The Girardian reading of crowds and scapegoating recurs across Thiel's public conduct, from his account of his 2007 outing by Gawker to the apocalyptic structure of the Antichrist lectures.[^8][^9]
### The Curtis Yarvin Patronage and Neoreaction
@ -63,9 +65,9 @@ The Yarvin current is intellectually adjacent to but distinct from the violent [
### The Singularity Institute and AI-Risk Funding
Thiel was the earliest prominent funder of the artificial-intelligence-risk movement that produced the Bay Area [[Rationalist Community]]. He began donating in 2005 to the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence, the nonprofit founded by [[Eliezer Yudkowsky]] that was later renamed the [[Machine Intelligence Research Institute]] (MIRI), and in 2006 cofounded its conference, the [[Singularity Summit]], with Yudkowsky and the futurist [[Ray Kurzweil]]. His cumulative donations to the institute were later reported as exceeding 1.6 million dollars. The funding helped concentrate the rationalist and transhumanist scene in the [[San Francisco Bay Area]] during its formative decade, the same milieu from which the [[Effective Altruism]] movement and the [[Leverage Research]], [[Michael Vassar|Vassarite]], and [[The Zizians|Zizian]] formations later emerged.[^7]
Thiel was the earliest prominent funder of the artificial-intelligence-risk movement that produced the Bay Area [[Rationalist Community]]. He began donating in 2005 to the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence, the nonprofit founded by [[Eliezer Yudkowsky]] that was later renamed the [[Machine Intelligence Research Institute]] (MIRI), and in 2006 cofounded its conference, the [[Singularity Summit]], with Yudkowsky and the futurist [[Ray Kurzweil]]. His cumulative donations to the institute were later reported as exceeding 1.6 million dollars. The funding helped concentrate the rationalist and transhumanist scene in the [[San Francisco Bay Area]] during its formative decade, the same milieu from which the [[Effective Altruism]] movement and the [[Leverage Research]], [[Michael Vassar|Vassarite]], and [[The Zizians|Zizian]] formations later emerged.[^10]
By the mid-2010s Thiel said the researchers he had funded had drifted "from transhumanism to Luddite." In a private four-part lecture series on the [[Antichrist]] delivered in [[San Francisco]] in September and October 2025, recordings of which reached the *[[Washington Post]]*, he named Yudkowsky alongside the philosopher [[Nick Bostrom]] and the climate activist [[Greta Thunberg]] as "legionnaires of the Antichrist," technology-stopping figures he said had become "deranged." In the September 15 lecture he said, "In the 21st century, the Antichrist is a Luddite who wants to stop all science. It's someone like Greta or Eliezer."[^6]
By the mid-2010s Thiel said the researchers he had funded had drifted "from transhumanism to Luddite." In a private four-part lecture series on the [[Antichrist]] delivered in [[San Francisco]] in September and October 2025, recordings of which reached the *[[Washington Post]]*, he named Yudkowsky alongside the philosopher [[Nick Bostrom]] and the climate activist [[Greta Thunberg]] as "legionnaires of the Antichrist," technology-stopping figures he said had become "deranged." In the September 15 lecture he said, "In the 21st century, the Antichrist is a Luddite who wants to stop all science. It's someone like Greta or Eliezer."[^9]
### The Gawker Litigation
@ -81,9 +83,9 @@ Thiel spoke at the 2016 Republican National Convention endorsing Trump and was a
### The 2016 Transition and the NSC Placements
Thiel joined the Trump transition team's executive committee in November 2016 and used the position to place associates into national-security and technology roles. [[Kevin Harrington|Kevin Harrington]], managing director of [[Thiel Macro|Thiel Macro LLC]] and a longtime Thiel associate, was appointed Senior Director for Strategic Planning on the [[National Security Council|National Security Council]] and subsequently elevated to Deputy Assistant to the President for Strategic Planning. *Just Security* described Harrington as an architect of the Trump NSC structure. [[Justin Mikolay|Justin Mikolay]], a former Palantir official, took a senior government role, and a Thiel aide was appointed [[White House]] Deputy Chief Technology Officer.[^8]
Thiel joined the Trump transition team's executive committee in November 2016 and used the position to place associates into national-security and technology roles. [[Kevin Harrington|Kevin Harrington]], managing director of [[Thiel Macro|Thiel Macro LLC]] and a longtime Thiel associate, was appointed Senior Director for Strategic Planning on the [[National Security Council|National Security Council]] and subsequently elevated to Deputy Assistant to the President for Strategic Planning. *Just Security* described Harrington as an architect of the Trump NSC structure. [[Justin Mikolay|Justin Mikolay]], a former Palantir official, took a senior government role, and a Thiel aide was appointed [[White House]] Deputy Chief Technology Officer.[^11]
Thiel himself declined a formal administration position, telling *Politico* in January 2017 that he wanted to "stay involved in Silicon Valley and help Mr. Trump as I can without a full-time position." The Harrington NSC placement placed a Thiel-employee inside the strategic-planning apparatus of the national-security council, at the level where intelligence priorities, defense procurement, and foreign-policy framing are coordinated. The placement ran alongside the Palantir government-contracting expansion, the Founders Fund defense-portfolio buildout, and the Dialog convening-network operation.[^8]
Thiel himself declined a formal administration position, telling *Politico* in January 2017 that he wanted to "stay involved in Silicon Valley and help Mr. Trump as I can without a full-time position." The Harrington NSC placement placed a Thiel-employee inside the strategic-planning apparatus of the national-security council, at the level where intelligence priorities, defense procurement, and foreign-policy framing are coordinated. The placement ran alongside the Palantir government-contracting expansion, the Founders Fund defense-portfolio buildout, and the Dialog convening-network operation.[^11]
### The Sovereign Individual and the Ideological Frame
@ -93,35 +95,35 @@ The Davidson-Rees-Mogg thesis is that the sovereign individual is the natural su
### Epstein Contacts
The unsealed [[Jeffrey Epstein|Epstein]] document releases under the [[Epstein Files Transparency Act]] document a Thiel-Epstein relationship running from 2011 through 2019, eight years after Epstein's 2008 federal [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement|non-prosecution agreement]]. The primary-document index (EFTA01738574) records a February 6, 2016 email in which Epstein wrote that Thiel "LOVED the secret socieity [sic] idea.. he has done alot of work on the concept. all failed so far." An August 2015 dinner that Reid Hoffman hosted in [[Palo Alto]] (EFTA00344556, EFTA00344564) placed Thiel at the same table as [[Mark Zuckerberg]], Elon Musk, [[Joi Ito]] of the [[MIT Media Lab]], and Epstein. *Jacobin* (April 2026) reported that hundreds of emails document Epstein's encouragement of Thiel's political trajectory, including a February 2013 audio recording of Epstein advising Thiel.[^1][^9][^10]
The unsealed [[Jeffrey Epstein|Epstein]] document releases under the [[Epstein Files Transparency Act]] document a Thiel-Epstein relationship running from 2011 through 2019, eight years after Epstein's 2008 federal [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement|non-prosecution agreement]]. The primary-document index (EFTA01738574) records a February 6, 2016 email in which Epstein wrote that Thiel "LOVED the secret socieity [sic] idea.. he has done alot of work on the concept. all failed so far." An August 2015 dinner that Reid Hoffman hosted in [[Palo Alto]] (EFTA00344556, EFTA00344564) placed Thiel at the same table as [[Mark Zuckerberg]], Elon Musk, [[Joi Ito]] of the [[MIT Media Lab]], and Epstein. *Jacobin* (April 2026) reported that hundreds of emails document Epstein's encouragement of Thiel's political trajectory, including a February 2013 audio recording of Epstein advising Thiel.[^1][^12][^13]
A 2013 Dialog retreat invitation forwarded to Epstein in November 2012 surfaced in the Department of Justice [[Epstein Files|Epstein document release]] (document D-23831), placing Epstein on the Dialog circulation list. The [[New York Times]] reported in May 2023 that Thiel met with Epstein multiple times in 2014. The Carstensen EFTA index documents additional exchanges including a 2014 meeting at the [[9 East 71st Street|Epstein townhouse]] attended by CIA director [[William Burns|William J. Burns]] and an occasion on which Thiel lunched with Russian UN ambassador [[Vitaly Churkin]]. Thiel is one of a number of Silicon Valley and finance figures whose post-2008 contacts with Epstein have been documented through the releases.[^1][^9][^10][^11]
A 2013 Dialog retreat invitation forwarded to Epstein in November 2012 surfaced in the Department of Justice [[Epstein Files|Epstein document release]] (document D-23831), placing Epstein on the Dialog circulation list. The [[New York Times]] reported in May 2023 that Thiel met with Epstein multiple times in 2014. The Carstensen EFTA index documents additional exchanges including a 2014 meeting at the [[9 East 71st Street|Epstein townhouse]] attended by CIA director [[William Burns|William J. Burns]] and an occasion on which Thiel lunched with Russian UN ambassador [[Vitaly Churkin]]. Thiel is one of a number of Silicon Valley and finance figures whose post-2008 contacts with Epstein have been documented through the releases.[^1][^12][^13][^14]
Epstein's staff described the August 2015 gathering as Thiel's as well as Hoffman's. On August 5, 2015, Epstein's assistant [[Lesley Groff]] wrote to a member of Zuckerberg's staff that "Jeffrey Epstein attended Reid Hoffman/Peter Thiel's dinner party this past Sunday night at Baume Restaurant," on August 2, and that "At the party Mark requested Jeffrey send his contact details to him."[^12]
Epstein's staff described the August 2015 gathering as Thiel's as well as Hoffman's. On August 5, 2015, Epstein's assistant [[Lesley Groff]] wrote to a member of Zuckerberg's staff that "Jeffrey Epstein attended Reid Hoffman/Peter Thiel's dinner party this past Sunday night at Baume Restaurant," on August 2, and that "At the party Mark requested Jeffrey send his contact details to him."[^15]
On May 21, 2018, Epstein wrote to Thiel: "FYI trae is meeting carbyne Ehud Barak co."[^13] [[Carbyne]], formerly Reporty Homeland Security, was an Israeli emergency-call technology company chaired by the former Israeli prime minister [[Ehud Barak]], in which Epstein held an investment through a limited partnership funded by his [[Southern Trust Company]].[^14] In January 2019 Barak, copying Epstein, offered Carbyne's services for the 2022 World Cup to Jabor Al Thani of Qatar, proposing to "work through a European company of your choice and minimize Israeli profile."[^14]
On May 21, 2018, Epstein wrote to Thiel: "FYI trae is meeting carbyne Ehud Barak co."[^16] [[Carbyne]], formerly Reporty Homeland Security, was an Israeli emergency-call technology company chaired by the former Israeli prime minister [[Ehud Barak]], in which Epstein held an investment through a limited partnership funded by his [[Southern Trust Company]].[^17] In January 2019 Barak, copying Epstein, offered Carbyne's services for the 2022 World Cup to Jabor Al Thani of Qatar, proposing to "work through a European company of your choice and minimize Israeli profile."[^17]
On September 8, 2014 Epstein wrote to Thiel: "any interest in woody alien". Thiel answered that night: "Would be cool to meet him sometime, but don't go out of the way to make this happen..." and asked: "Are we planning something the weekend of the 13th-14th?"[^15] On September 9 Epstein wrote that the afternoon of the 13th would be "you and I", followed by William Burns, and that "if you choose we can bring in kathy ruemmler. former obama counsel for 5 years. and or sen Bob kerrey, former senate intellignece".[^15] On September 10 Epstein sent Thiel a schedule: "2 pm one on one you and I , 3 -4 bill burns to join. i will need alone time with him after. 730 woody and kathy ruemmler for dinner ( again you can bring guest/s if you choose). sunday lunch with bob kerrey if you have interest or we can continue our one on one".[^16] Thiel replied on September 12: "Free from about 5pm onwards on Saturday... Sunday lunch with Kerrey would be great." Epstein answered: "see you at 5 , bill burns will be here then dinner with woody and kathy".[^17] Epstein's scheduler had written to [[Bob Kerrey]] on September 2 that "Jeffrey is having Peter Thiel and possibly Bill Burns for lunch at his home in NY on Sat. Sept 13th and Sun. Sept. 14th", and a reminder of September 12 reads: "We told him Peter Thiel (Kathy Ruemmler and Cass are attending as well)".[^18] On the night of September 13 Epstein wrote to [[Kathryn Ruemmler]]: "peter will not make it tomorw we just finished".[^19]
On September 8, 2014 Epstein wrote to Thiel: "any interest in woody alien". Thiel answered that night: "Would be cool to meet him sometime, but don't go out of the way to make this happen..." and asked: "Are we planning something the weekend of the 13th-14th?"[^18] On September 9 Epstein wrote that the afternoon of the 13th would be "you and I", followed by William Burns, and that "if you choose we can bring in kathy ruemmler. former obama counsel for 5 years. and or sen Bob kerrey, former senate intellignece".[^18] On September 10 Epstein sent Thiel a schedule: "2 pm one on one you and I , 3 -4 bill burns to join. i will need alone time with him after. 730 woody and kathy ruemmler for dinner ( again you can bring guest/s if you choose). sunday lunch with bob kerrey if you have interest or we can continue our one on one".[^19] Thiel replied on September 12: "Free from about 5pm onwards on Saturday... Sunday lunch with Kerrey would be great." Epstein answered: "see you at 5 , bill burns will be here then dinner with woody and kathy".[^20] Epstein's scheduler had written to [[Bob Kerrey]] on September 2 that "Jeffrey is having Peter Thiel and possibly Bill Burns for lunch at his home in NY on Sat. Sept 13th and Sun. Sept. 14th", and a reminder of September 12 reads: "We told him Peter Thiel (Kathy Ruemmler and Cass are attending as well)".[^21] On the night of September 13 Epstein wrote to [[Kathryn Ruemmler]]: "peter will not make it tomorw we just finished".[^22]
### The FBI Confidential Human Source Relationship
[[Business Insider]] reported in October 2023 that Thiel began providing information to the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] as a confidential human source (CHS) in summer 2021, with the Los Angeles-based counterintelligence agent [[Jonathan Buma]] as his handler. The CHS relationship placed Thiel in the formal FBI source program while he simultaneously chaired Palantir Technologies (a major CIA and FBI contractor), cofounded the Dialog convening network, funded the JD Vance and Blake Masters Senate campaigns, and maintained the documented Epstein relationship that ran through 2019. A [[House Committee on the Judiciary|House Judiciary Committee]] document submitted January 22, 2026 references Thiel's CHS role in the congressional record.[^20]
[[Business Insider]] reported in October 2023 that Thiel began providing information to the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] as a confidential human source (CHS) in summer 2021, with the Los Angeles-based counterintelligence agent [[Jonathan Buma]] as his handler. The CHS relationship placed Thiel in the formal FBI source program while he simultaneously chaired Palantir Technologies (a major CIA and FBI contractor), cofounded the Dialog convening network, funded the JD Vance and Blake Masters Senate campaigns, and maintained the documented Epstein relationship that ran through 2019. A [[House Committee on the Judiciary|House Judiciary Committee]] document submitted January 22, 2026 references Thiel's CHS role in the congressional record.[^23]
Buma was arrested at [[John F. Kennedy International Airport|JFK Airport]] on March 17, 2025 while attempting to board an international flight, charged with unlawfully disclosing confidential information. [[CBS News]] reported that FBI investigators assessed Buma may have compromised as many as 130 FBI files. Buma publicly accused the FBI of pro-Trump political bias, and claimed in May 2025 (per [[The Guardian]]) that "intense" Russian-intelligence efforts had targeted Elon Musk.[^20][^21]
Buma was arrested at [[John F. Kennedy International Airport|JFK Airport]] on March 17, 2025 while attempting to board an international flight, charged with unlawfully disclosing confidential information. [[CBS News]] reported that FBI investigators assessed Buma may have compromised as many as 130 FBI files. Buma publicly accused the FBI of pro-Trump political bias, and claimed in May 2025 (per [[The Guardian]]) that "intense" Russian-intelligence efforts had targeted Elon Musk.[^23][^24]
### The Clearview AI Seed Investment
Thiel was the first investor in [[Clearview AI]], the facial-recognition firm founded by [[Hoan Ton-That]] and [[Richard Schwartz]], providing seed funding before the company was even named (the [[Smart Checker]] period). [[NPR]] confirmed in 2023 that Thiel was Clearview's first investor. The seed investment was made directly by Thiel rather than through Founders Fund, placing Clearview in the same Thiel-seed-investment lineage as Palantir.[^22]
Thiel was the first investor in [[Clearview AI]], the facial-recognition firm founded by [[Hoan Ton-That]] and [[Richard Schwartz]], providing seed funding before the company was even named (the [[Smart Checker]] period). [[NPR]] confirmed in 2023 that Thiel was Clearview's first investor. The seed investment was made directly by Thiel rather than through Founders Fund, placing Clearview in the same Thiel-seed-investment lineage as Palantir.[^25]
The *New York Times* reported in March 2021 that [[Charles C. Johnson|Charles Johnson]], the far-right provocateur and self-described federal informant, played a pivotal early role alongside Thiel in the Clearview founding. Johnson announced in 2017 that he was "building algorithms to ID all the illegal immigrants for the deportation squads," which *Byline Supplement* reported as part of the Clearview prehistory. Johnson subsequently claimed cofounder status and sued Clearview for a share of its profits before dropping the suit in February 2025.[^22]
The *New York Times* reported in March 2021 that [[Charles C. Johnson|Charles Johnson]], the far-right provocateur and self-described federal informant, played a pivotal early role alongside Thiel in the Clearview founding. Johnson announced in 2017 that he was "building algorithms to ID all the illegal immigrants for the deportation squads," which *Byline Supplement* reported as part of the Clearview prehistory. Johnson subsequently claimed cofounder status and sued Clearview for a share of its profits before dropping the suit in February 2025.[^25]
Johnson disclosed Thiel's FBI CHS status, per the Business Insider reporting of October 2023. The Johnson-Thiel relationship extends beyond Clearview: the *Business Insider* piece described Johnson as "a tech investor and far-right agitator with long-standing ties to both Thiel and to the network." The [[Federal Trade Commission]] issued a consent order against Clearview in March 2022 barring the company from selling its database to private entities, following the documented deployment of the product by law enforcement, government clients, and private actors.[^22]
Johnson disclosed Thiel's FBI CHS status, per the Business Insider reporting of October 2023. The Johnson-Thiel relationship extends beyond Clearview: the *Business Insider* piece described Johnson as "a tech investor and far-right agitator with long-standing ties to both Thiel and to the network." The [[Federal Trade Commission]] issued a consent order against Clearview in March 2022 barring the company from selling its database to private entities, following the documented deployment of the product by law enforcement, government clients, and private actors.[^25]
### New Zealand Citizenship
Thiel was granted [[New Zealand]] citizenship on August 4, 2011 under an "exceptional circumstances" provision that waived the standard 1,350-day residency requirement. Thiel had visited New Zealand four times before the grant and had never resided there. The *Guardian*, *New York Times*, and *Washington Post* reported in February 2017 that internal Department of Internal Affairs officials granted the waiver after Thiel made approximately ten million dollars in New Zealand investments (including stakes in [[Xero]]) and a one million dollar donation to [[Christchurch]] earthquake relief. Thiel described New Zealand as "the future" in his citizenship application.[^23]
Thiel was granted [[New Zealand]] citizenship on August 4, 2011 under an "exceptional circumstances" provision that waived the standard 1,350-day residency requirement. Thiel had visited New Zealand four times before the grant and had never resided there. The *Guardian*, *New York Times*, and *Washington Post* reported in February 2017 that internal Department of Internal Affairs officials granted the waiver after Thiel made approximately ten million dollars in New Zealand investments (including stakes in [[Xero]]) and a one million dollar donation to [[Christchurch]] earthquake relief. Thiel described New Zealand as "the future" in his citizenship application.[^26]
The citizenship was not publicly disclosed for nearly six years. The February 2017 disclosure prompted criticism of the New Zealand government's use of the exceptional-circumstances provision for a non-resident billionaire. Thiel also acquired a 193-hectare estate near [[Lake Wanaka]] in the South Island, part of a documented pattern of Silicon Valley billionaire property acquisition in New Zealand. The New Zealand government subsequently tightened the investor-visa provisions.[^23]
The citizenship was not publicly disclosed for nearly six years. The February 2017 disclosure prompted criticism of the New Zealand government's use of the exceptional-circumstances provision for a non-resident billionaire. Thiel also acquired a 193-hectare estate near [[Lake Wanaka]] in the South Island, part of a documented pattern of Silicon Valley billionaire property acquisition in New Zealand. The New Zealand government subsequently tightened the investor-visa provisions.[^26]
### Footnotes
@ -129,22 +131,25 @@ The citizenship was not publicly disclosed for nearly six years. The February 20
[^2]: Thiel, Peter, and Blake Masters. *Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future.* Crown Business, 2014.
[^3]: Yarvin, Curtis (Moldbug). "Unqualified Reservations" (blog), 2007 onward. See also Thiel, Peter. "The Education of a Libertarian." *Cato Unbound,* 2009. https://www.cato.org/cato-unbound/education-libertarian/
[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein document release. 2013 Dialog retreat invitation forwarded to Jeffrey Epstein, November 2012. Document D-23831. https://epsteinexposed.com/documents/d-23831
[^5]: "René Girard," *Encyclopædia Britannica.* https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rene-Girard ; "Mimesis, Violence, and Facebook: Peter Thiel's French Connection," *Cyborgology,* August 13, 2016. https://thesocietypages.org/cyborgology/2016/08/13/mimesis-violence-and-facebook-peter-thiels-french-connection-full-essay/ ; Imitatio, "What We Do." http://www.imitatio.org/about-imitatio
[^6]: "What billionaire Peter Thiel said in his private 'Antichrist lectures.'" *Washington Post,* October 10, 2025. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/10/10/peter-thiel-antichrist-lectures-leaked/ ; "Peter Thiel Thinks the Antichrist Is 'Someone Like' This AI Doomer That He Funded." *Gizmodo,* October 2025. https://gizmodo.com/peter-thiel-thinks-the-antichrist-is-someone-like-this-ai-doomer-that-he-funded-2000671027
[^7]: Hagey, Keach. *The Optimist: Sam Altman, OpenAI, and the Race to Invent the Future.* W. W. Norton, 2025, on Thiel funding the Singularity Institute from 2005 and cofounding the 2006 Singularity Summit; cumulative donations cross-referenced against the MIRI donation timeline at timelines.issarice.com.
[^8]: "Disrupting the White House: Peter Thiel's Influence is Shaping the National Security Council." *Just Security.* https://www.justsecurity.org/37466/disrupting-white-house-peter-thiels-influence-shaping-national-security-council/ ; "Peter Thiel: I won't take a job with Trump's administration." *Politico,* January 2017. https://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/peter-thiel-no-job-trump-administration-233523 ; "Inside Trump's shadow national security council." *Washington Post,* January 19, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2017/01/19/inside-trumps-shadow-national-security-council/
[^9]: "Peter Thiel Is Latest Billionaire Said to Have Met With Jeffrey Epstein." *New York Times,* May 18, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/18/business/jeffrey-epstein-peter-thiel.html
[^10]: "Jeffrey Epstein Encouraged Peter Thiel's Political Journey." *Jacobin,* April 2026. https://jacobin.com/2026/04/epstein-thiel-tech-finance-trump ; "What Peter Thiel Saw in Jeffrey Epstein." *The Nation,* 2026. https://www.thenation.com/?post_type=article&p=586795
[^11]: Tommy Carstensen Epstein Files index, "Peter Thiel," cross-referencing the Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA) document releases, including EFTA01738574 (Feb 6, 2016 "secret society" email), EFTA00344556 and EFTA00344564 (2015 dinner guest list), and the Thiel-Churkin lunch record. https://tommycarstensen.com/epstein/people/peter-thiel.html
[^12]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02074070, DataSet 10, email from Lesley Groff, "Jeffrey Epstein (Hoffman & Thiel Dinner Party)," August 5, 2015. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA02074070.pdf
[^13]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01052344, DataSet 9, email from Jeffrey Epstein to Peter Thiel, May 21, 2018. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01052344.pdf
[^14]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02634615, DataSet 11, email chain among Tomer Toor, Darren Indyke and Jeffrey Epstein on the exercise of Carbyne warrants by SUM (E.B.) Limited Partnership, funded 66.67 percent by Southern Trust Inc., March 2019; and EFTA02607775, DataSet 11, email from Ehud Barak to Jabor Al Thani, copied to Jeffrey Epstein, January 1, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02634615.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02607775.pdf
[^15]: Email exchange between Jeffrey Epstein and Peter Thiel, September 8 and 9, 2014, EFTA00996779, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00996779.pdf
[^16]: Email from Jeffrey Epstein to Peter Thiel, September 10, 2014, EFTA00362932, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00362932.pdf
[^17]: Email exchange between Peter Thiel and Jeffrey Epstein, September 12, 2014, EFTA00362699, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00362699.pdf
[^18]: Email from Epstein's scheduler to Bob Kerrey, September 2, 2014, EFTA00363673, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9; reminder email, "Re: Reminder Bob Kerrey," September 12, 2014, EFTA02097598, Data Set 10. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00363673.pdf
[^19]: Email from Jeffrey Epstein to Kathryn Ruemmler, September 13, 2014, EFTA02338079, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 11. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02338079.pdf
[^20]: "Exclusive: Tech Billionaire Peter Thiel Was an FBI Informant." *Business Insider,* October 2023. https://www.businessinsider.com/peter-thiel-fbi-informant-charles-johnson-johnathan-buma-chs-genius-2023-10 ; U.S. Congress, House Judiciary Committee, document referencing Thiel's CHS role, January 22, 2026. https://www.congress.gov/119/meeting/house/118881/documents/HHRG-119-JU00-20260122-SD011-U11.pdf
[^21]: "Former FBI Special Agent Arrested for Disclosure of Confidential Information." *DOJ Office of Inspector General,* 2025. https://oig.justice.gov/news/press-release/former-fbi-special-agent-arrested-disclosure-confidential-information ; "FBI whistleblower claims he tried to get to Musk to warn him he was being targeted by Russia." *The Guardian,* May 22, 2025. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/may/22/fbi-whistleblower-musk-russia
[^22]: "What We Learned About Clearview AI's Hidden 'Co-Founder.'" *New York Times,* March 18, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/18/technology/clearview-facial-recognition-ai.html ; "Business Partner Sues Chuck Johnson for Falsely Presenting as Intelligence Agent." *Semafor,* October 16, 2024. https://www.semafor.com/article/10/16/2024/business-partner-sues-chuck-johnson-for-falsely-presenting-as-intelligence-agent
[^23]: "Documents reveal how Peter Thiel was granted New Zealand citizenship." *The Guardian,* February 1, 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/feb/01/documents-reveal-how-peter-thiel-was-granted-new-zealand-citizenship ; "New Zealand Is 'the Future,' Peter Thiel Said in His Push for Citizenship." *New York Times,* February 1, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/01/business/peter-thiel-new-zealand-citizenship.html
[^5]: "Polymarket raises $45 million from Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, Vitalik Buterin and others," The Block, May 14, 2024. https://www.theblock.co/amp/post/294367/polymarket-raises-45-million-from-peter-thiels-founders-fund-vitalik-buterin-and-others
[^6]: Naga Avan-Nomayo, "Polymarket discloses past funding rounds totaling $205 million before $2 billion ICE investment," The Block, October 8, 2025. https://www.theblock.co/post/373783/polymarket-discloses-past-funding-rounds-totaling-205-million-before-2-billion-ice-investment
[^7]: Reuters, "Trump-linked venture fund 1789 Capital tops US$1 billion in assets," September 8, 2025, as carried by BNN Bloomberg. https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/2025/09/08/trump-linked-venture-fund-1789-capital-tops-us1-billion-in-assets/ ; Form D/A, 1789 Capital Fund I, LP, accession 0001965234-25-000002. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1965234/000196523425000002/primary_doc.xml
[^8]: "René Girard," *Encyclopædia Britannica.* https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rene-Girard ; "Mimesis, Violence, and Facebook: Peter Thiel's French Connection," *Cyborgology,* August 13, 2016. https://thesocietypages.org/cyborgology/2016/08/13/mimesis-violence-and-facebook-peter-thiels-french-connection-full-essay/ ; Imitatio, "What We Do." http://www.imitatio.org/about-imitatio
[^9]: "What billionaire Peter Thiel said in his private 'Antichrist lectures.'" *Washington Post,* October 10, 2025. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/10/10/peter-thiel-antichrist-lectures-leaked/ ; "Peter Thiel Thinks the Antichrist Is 'Someone Like' This AI Doomer That He Funded." *Gizmodo,* October 2025. https://gizmodo.com/peter-thiel-thinks-the-antichrist-is-someone-like-this-ai-doomer-that-he-funded-2000671027
[^10]: Hagey, Keach. *The Optimist: Sam Altman, OpenAI, and the Race to Invent the Future.* W. W. Norton, 2025, on Thiel funding the Singularity Institute from 2005 and cofounding the 2006 Singularity Summit; cumulative donations cross-referenced against the MIRI donation timeline at timelines.issarice.com.
[^11]: "Disrupting the White House: Peter Thiel's Influence is Shaping the National Security Council." *Just Security.* https://www.justsecurity.org/37466/disrupting-white-house-peter-thiels-influence-shaping-national-security-council/ ; "Peter Thiel: I won't take a job with Trump's administration." *Politico,* January 2017. https://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/peter-thiel-no-job-trump-administration-233523 ; "Inside Trump's shadow national security council." *Washington Post,* January 19, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2017/01/19/inside-trumps-shadow-national-security-council/
[^12]: "Peter Thiel Is Latest Billionaire Said to Have Met With Jeffrey Epstein." *New York Times,* May 18, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/18/business/jeffrey-epstein-peter-thiel.html
[^13]: "Jeffrey Epstein Encouraged Peter Thiel's Political Journey." *Jacobin,* April 2026. https://jacobin.com/2026/04/epstein-thiel-tech-finance-trump ; "What Peter Thiel Saw in Jeffrey Epstein." *The Nation,* 2026. https://www.thenation.com/?post_type=article&p=586795
[^14]: Tommy Carstensen Epstein Files index, "Peter Thiel," cross-referencing the Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA) document releases, including EFTA01738574 (Feb 6, 2016 "secret society" email), EFTA00344556 and EFTA00344564 (2015 dinner guest list), and the Thiel-Churkin lunch record. https://tommycarstensen.com/epstein/people/peter-thiel.html
[^15]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02074070, DataSet 10, email from Lesley Groff, "Jeffrey Epstein (Hoffman & Thiel Dinner Party)," August 5, 2015. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA02074070.pdf
[^16]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01052344, DataSet 9, email from Jeffrey Epstein to Peter Thiel, May 21, 2018. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01052344.pdf
[^17]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02634615, DataSet 11, email chain among Tomer Toor, Darren Indyke and Jeffrey Epstein on the exercise of Carbyne warrants by SUM (E.B.) Limited Partnership, funded 66.67 percent by Southern Trust Inc., March 2019; and EFTA02607775, DataSet 11, email from Ehud Barak to Jabor Al Thani, copied to Jeffrey Epstein, January 1, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02634615.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02607775.pdf
[^18]: Email exchange between Jeffrey Epstein and Peter Thiel, September 8 and 9, 2014, EFTA00996779, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00996779.pdf
[^19]: Email from Jeffrey Epstein to Peter Thiel, September 10, 2014, EFTA00362932, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00362932.pdf
[^20]: Email exchange between Peter Thiel and Jeffrey Epstein, September 12, 2014, EFTA00362699, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00362699.pdf
[^21]: Email from Epstein's scheduler to Bob Kerrey, September 2, 2014, EFTA00363673, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9; reminder email, "Re: Reminder Bob Kerrey," September 12, 2014, EFTA02097598, Data Set 10. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00363673.pdf
[^22]: Email from Jeffrey Epstein to Kathryn Ruemmler, September 13, 2014, EFTA02338079, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 11. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02338079.pdf
[^23]: "Exclusive: Tech Billionaire Peter Thiel Was an FBI Informant." *Business Insider,* October 2023. https://www.businessinsider.com/peter-thiel-fbi-informant-charles-johnson-johnathan-buma-chs-genius-2023-10 ; U.S. Congress, House Judiciary Committee, document referencing Thiel's CHS role, January 22, 2026. https://www.congress.gov/119/meeting/house/118881/documents/HHRG-119-JU00-20260122-SD011-U11.pdf
[^24]: "Former FBI Special Agent Arrested for Disclosure of Confidential Information." *DOJ Office of Inspector General,* 2025. https://oig.justice.gov/news/press-release/former-fbi-special-agent-arrested-disclosure-confidential-information ; "FBI whistleblower claims he tried to get to Musk to warn him he was being targeted by Russia." *The Guardian,* May 22, 2025. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/may/22/fbi-whistleblower-musk-russia
[^25]: "What We Learned About Clearview AI's Hidden 'Co-Founder.'" *New York Times,* March 18, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/18/technology/clearview-facial-recognition-ai.html ; "Business Partner Sues Chuck Johnson for Falsely Presenting as Intelligence Agent." *Semafor,* October 16, 2024. https://www.semafor.com/article/10/16/2024/business-partner-sues-chuck-johnson-for-falsely-presenting-as-intelligence-agent
[^26]: "Documents reveal how Peter Thiel was granted New Zealand citizenship." *The Guardian,* February 1, 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/feb/01/documents-reveal-how-peter-thiel-was-granted-new-zealand-citizenship ; "New Zealand Is 'the Future,' Peter Thiel Said in His Push for Citizenship." *New York Times,* February 1, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/01/business/peter-thiel-new-zealand-citizenship.html

26
10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Ron Wyden.md
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@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ relations:
start: 2025
fn: 1
created: 2026-09-25
updated: 2026-09-25
updated: 2026-10-13
---
Ronald Lee Wyden (born May 3, 1949, in [[Wichita, Kansas]]) is a Democratic senator from [[Oregon]], elected in a special election on January 30, 1996 after serving in the [[United States House of Representatives]] from 1981. He sits on the [[Senate Select Committee on Intelligence]], the Budget and Energy and Natural Resources committees, and the [[Joint Committee on Taxation]], and is ranking member of the [[Senate Finance Committee]], which he chaired when his staff opened an inquiry in June 2022 into [[Leon Black]]'s payments to [[Jeffrey Epstein]]. The inquiry grew into an investigation of the suspicious-activity reporting of [[JPMorgan Chase]], [[Deutsche Bank]] and [[Bank of America]], published as a report on August 4, 2026.[^1][^2][^3]
@ -56,19 +56,21 @@ Wyden attended the [[University of California, Santa Barbara]] on a basketball s
At a March 12, 2013 open hearing of the Intelligence Committee, Wyden asked [[Director of National Intelligence]] [[James Clapper]] whether the [[National Security Agency]] collected "any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans." Clapper answered, "No, sir." After [[Edward Snowden]]'s disclosures, Clapper wrote to committee chair [[Dianne Feinstein]] on June 21, 2013 that he had been thinking of content rather than metadata collection under [[Section 215]] of the [[USA PATRIOT Act]] and that "my response was clearly erroneous, for which I apologize." A Wyden spokesman said Clapper's office had acknowledged the statement was inaccurate shortly after the hearing but "refused to correct the public record when given the opportunity."[^4] Wyden's Senate biography credits him with forcing the declassification of the [[CIA Inspector General]]'s report on the [[September 11 attacks]], shutting down the [[Total Information Awareness]] program, and drawing attention to the reliance of the Bush and Obama administrations on "secret law."[^1]
On July 28, 2003 Wyden and Senator [[Byron Dorgan]] disclosed at a press conference that the Pentagon's [[DARPA]] was preparing the [[Policy Analysis Market]], a futures market in which traders would bet on Middle Eastern political and economic events. Wyden said: "The idea of a federal betting parlor on atrocities and terrorism is ridiculous and it's grotesque." He said the program was under the supervision of [[John Poindexter]], head of the Terrorism Information Awareness program. The Pentagon abandoned the market the next day.[^5][^6]
### The Leon Black Inquiry
The Finance Committee's inquiry began in June 2022, prompted, in the committee's words, by "inconsistencies" in the report that the law firm [[Dechert]] prepared for [[Apollo Global Management]]'s board on Black's payments of 158 million dollars to Epstein. On July 25, 2023 Wyden, as chairman, announced that the investigation had found a transaction Epstein devised to help Black avoid more than one billion dollars in federal gift and estate taxes, and that Black "improperly received excess income from Apollo partnership interests held in a trust, assets he indicated to the IRS he no longer owned." Black's representatives told the committee that the [[Internal Revenue Service]] had not audited any of the transactions or trusts.[^3]
On March 11, 2025, by then ranking member, Wyden wrote to Attorney General [[Pam Bondi]], Treasury Secretary [[Scott Bessent]] and [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] Director [[Kash Patel]] that Black's bank had not filed a suspicious activity report on about 156 million dollars in wires to Epstein until February 2020, six months after Epstein's death, and had flagged two more wires in a second report in October 2020. He wrote that committee staff had found 12 million dollars in wires that the Apollo board's review had not identified, and that "I have not received any explanation from Black's attorneys as to why the Apollo Board's investigation omitted or failed to identify these $12 million payments or their purpose."[^5] On June 4, 2026 he referred his findings to the [[House Oversight Committee]] ahead of Black's deposition there, writing that unsealed [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]] files indicated Epstein "kept close tabs of women who Black had reached settlements/NDAs with and reached out to Russian government officials to help Black with these so-called problems" and "appears to have acted as a middleman for Black to pay women on Black's behalf." Black's counsel [[Aaron Cutler]] of [[Hogan Lovells]] had written to Wyden on April 13, 2026 that the inquiry concerned a "private citizen's personal life" and sought to "unfairly harass" Black.[^6]
On March 11, 2025, by then ranking member, Wyden wrote to Attorney General [[Pam Bondi]], Treasury Secretary [[Scott Bessent]] and [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] Director [[Kash Patel]] that Black's bank had not filed a suspicious activity report on about 156 million dollars in wires to Epstein until February 2020, six months after Epstein's death, and had flagged two more wires in a second report in October 2020. He wrote that committee staff had found 12 million dollars in wires that the Apollo board's review had not identified, and that "I have not received any explanation from Black's attorneys as to why the Apollo Board's investigation omitted or failed to identify these $12 million payments or their purpose."[^7] On June 4, 2026 he referred his findings to the [[House Oversight Committee]] ahead of Black's deposition there, writing that unsealed [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]] files indicated Epstein "kept close tabs of women who Black had reached settlements/NDAs with and reached out to Russian government officials to help Black with these so-called problems" and "appears to have acted as a middleman for Black to pay women on Black's behalf." Black's counsel [[Aaron Cutler]] of [[Hogan Lovells]] had written to Wyden on April 13, 2026 that the inquiry concerned a "private citizen's personal life" and sought to "unfairly harass" Black.[^8]
### The Treasury Records and the Banks
On February 14, 2024 bipartisan Finance Committee staff reviewed Epstein-related suspicious activity reports in camera at a Treasury Department reading room. On April 4, 2024 Wyden asked Bank of America chief executive [[Brian Moynihan]] sixteen questions about its handling of Black's payments; the bank's counsel replied on May 6, 2024 that it would not cooperate absent a subpoena. Wyden asked Bessent for the Treasury's Epstein file on March 11, June 16 and September 2, 2025. Treasury declined each time and on January 22, 2026 told him it had provided the records to the Republican-led [[House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform|House Oversight Committee]] instead.[^2][^5]
On February 14, 2024 bipartisan Finance Committee staff reviewed Epstein-related suspicious activity reports in camera at a Treasury Department reading room. On April 4, 2024 Wyden asked Bank of America chief executive [[Brian Moynihan]] sixteen questions about its handling of Black's payments; the bank's counsel replied on May 6, 2024 that it would not cooperate absent a subpoena. Wyden asked Bessent for the Treasury's Epstein file on March 11, June 16 and September 2, 2025. Treasury declined each time and on January 22, 2026 told him it had provided the records to the Republican-led [[House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform|House Oversight Committee]] instead.[^2][^7]
On September 9, 2025 Wyden introduced the [[Produce Epstein Treasury Records Act]] (S. 2746), requiring Treasury to give Congress the Epstein suspicious activity reports, a list of filing institutions, and a report on any [[Bank Secrecy Act]] investigations of those institutions. On March 3, 2026 he asked unanimous consent to pass it, telling the Senate that his staff had seen records of "4,725 wire transfers adding up to more than $1 billion in and out of his JPMorgan bank accounts in the decade after 2003" and that "there could be more than $1.5 billion in suspicious Epstein transactions." Finance Committee chairman [[Mike Crapo]] objected, stating that the House Oversight and Judiciary committees were leading the review and that the Banking Committee, not Finance, had jurisdiction over suspicious activity reports.[^7] Wyden's report stated that his office had approached Senator [[Marsha Blackburn]]'s staff from June 2024 about a bipartisan subpoena for Epstein bank records and later about cosponsoring the bill, and received no commitment; Blackburn had said publicly in February 2025 that her "efforts to crack the Epstein trafficking ring wide open have been stonewalled by Democrats at every turn."[^2]
On September 9, 2025 Wyden introduced the [[Produce Epstein Treasury Records Act]] (S. 2746), requiring Treasury to give Congress the Epstein suspicious activity reports, a list of filing institutions, and a report on any [[Bank Secrecy Act]] investigations of those institutions. On March 3, 2026 he asked unanimous consent to pass it, telling the Senate that his staff had seen records of "4,725 wire transfers adding up to more than $1 billion in and out of his JPMorgan bank accounts in the decade after 2003" and that "there could be more than $1.5 billion in suspicious Epstein transactions." Finance Committee chairman [[Mike Crapo]] objected, stating that the House Oversight and Judiciary committees were leading the review and that the Banking Committee, not Finance, had jurisdiction over suspicious activity reports.[^9] Wyden's report stated that his office had approached Senator [[Marsha Blackburn]]'s staff from June 2024 about a bipartisan subpoena for Epstein bank records and later about cosponsoring the bill, and received no commitment; Blackburn had said publicly in February 2025 that her "efforts to crack the Epstein trafficking ring wide open have been stonewalled by Democrats at every turn."[^2]
Wyden's September 24, 2025 letter to [[Jamie Dimon]] set out 31 questions about the bank's Epstein accounts and its six-year delay in filing reports after exiting him in 2013; JPMorgan's October 10, 2025 reply answered none of them and attributed all misconduct to [[Jes Staley]].[^8][^9] On January 15, 2026 he wrote to [[BNY Mellon]] about Epstein transactions processed through its [[Pershing]] subsidiary; its counsel also declined to cooperate.[^2] In February 2026, after reports that Epstein and associates had been targets of a federal drug-trafficking, prostitution and money-laundering investigation, he asked the [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] for its results, and he later announced that Deputy Attorney General [[Todd Blanche]], [[Donald Trump]]'s former personal lawyer, had intervened to block the [[DEA]] from complying.[^10]
Wyden's September 24, 2025 letter to [[Jamie Dimon]] set out 31 questions about the bank's Epstein accounts and its six-year delay in filing reports after exiting him in 2013; JPMorgan's October 10, 2025 reply answered none of them and attributed all misconduct to [[Jes Staley]].[^10][^11] On January 15, 2026 he wrote to [[BNY Mellon]] about Epstein transactions processed through its [[Pershing]] subsidiary; its counsel also declined to cooperate.[^2] In February 2026, after reports that Epstein and associates had been targets of a federal drug-trafficking, prostitution and money-laundering investigation, he asked the [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] for its results, and he later announced that Deputy Attorney General [[Todd Blanche]], [[Donald Trump]]'s former personal lawyer, had intervened to block the [[DEA]] from complying.[^12]
### Looking the Other Way
@ -80,9 +82,11 @@ The August 4, 2026 report, "Looking the Other Way," concluded that JPMorgan Chas
[^2]: U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, Ranking Member Ron Wyden, "Looking the Other Way: How Wall Street Banks Enabled Jeffrey Epstein's Sex Trafficking," August 4, 2026, pp. 3-6, 50-61. https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/wyden_wall_street_epstein_report.pdf ; U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, "Wyden Releases New Report on Failure of Wall Street Banks to Blow the Whistle on Jeffrey Epstein's Sex Trafficking and Money Laundering Schemes," August 4, 2026. https://www.finance.senate.gov/ranking-members-news/wyden-releases-new-report-on-failure-of-wall-street-banks-to-blow-the-whistle-on-jeffrey-epsteins-sex-trafficking-and-money-laundering-schemes
[^3]: U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, "Wyden Unveils Ongoing Investigation into Private Equity Billionaire Leon Black's Tax Planning and Financial Ties with Jeffrey Epstein," July 25, 2023. https://www.finance.senate.gov/chairmans-news/wyden-unveils-ongoing-investigation-into-private-equity-billionaire-leon-blacks-tax-planning-and-financial-ties-with-jeffrey-epstein
[^4]: "Director of National Intelligence apologizes for his 'clearly erroneous' NSA testimony," *NBC News / Associated Press,* July 2, 2013. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/wbna52381116
[^5]: Letter from Senator Ron Wyden to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and FBI Director Kash Patel, March 11, 2025. https://www.finance.senate.gov/download/wyden-letter-to-doj-treasury-fbi-on-epsteinpdf?download=1 ; U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, "Wyden Releases New Information on Financing of Jeffrey Epstein's Operations by Billionaire Leon Black, Seeks Documents from Trump Administration," March 12, 2025. https://www.finance.senate.gov/ranking-members-news/wyden-releases-new-information-on-financing-of-jeffrey-epsteins-operations-by-billionaire-leon-black-seeks-documents-from-trump-administration
[^6]: Letter from Senator Ron Wyden to Chairman James Comer and Ranking Member Robert Garcia, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, regarding Leon Black, June 4, 2026. https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/wyden_letter_to_house_oversight_on_leon_black-epstein_060426.pdf
[^7]: Congressional Record, vol. 172, no. 40 (March 3, 2026), Senate, pp. S748 ff. (Produce Epstein Treasury Records Act, unanimous consent request and objection). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2026-03-03/html/CREC-2026-03-03-pt1-PgS748-2.htm ; S. 2746, 119th Congress. https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/2746
[^8]: Letter from Senator Ron Wyden to Jamie Dimon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, JPMorgan Chase & Co., September 24, 2025. https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/letter_from_senator_wyden_to_jpmorgan_chase_epstein_accounts_09-24-25pdf.pdf
[^9]: Letter from JPMorgan Chase & Co. to Senator Ron Wyden, Ranking Member, Committee on Finance, October 10, 2025. https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/101025jpmcresponsetowyden.pdf
[^10]: U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, "Wyden Releases New Report on Failure of Wall Street Banks to Blow the Whistle on Jeffrey Epstein's Sex Trafficking and Money Laundering Schemes," August 4, 2026 (background section). https://www.finance.senate.gov/ranking-members-news/wyden-releases-new-report-on-failure-of-wall-street-banks-to-blow-the-whistle-on-jeffrey-epsteins-sex-trafficking-and-money-laundering-schemes
[^5]: "Pentagon plan to bet on terrorism is blasted," Associated Press, as published by the Deseret News, July 29, 2003. https://www.deseret.com/2003/7/29/19738241/pentagon-plan-to-bet-on-terrorism-is-blasted/
[^6]: "Pentagon Abandons Terrorism Betting Plan," Associated Press, July 29, 2003, as published by KSL. https://www.ksl.com/article/103317
[^7]: Letter from Senator Ron Wyden to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and FBI Director Kash Patel, March 11, 2025. https://www.finance.senate.gov/download/wyden-letter-to-doj-treasury-fbi-on-epsteinpdf?download=1 ; U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, "Wyden Releases New Information on Financing of Jeffrey Epstein's Operations by Billionaire Leon Black, Seeks Documents from Trump Administration," March 12, 2025. https://www.finance.senate.gov/ranking-members-news/wyden-releases-new-information-on-financing-of-jeffrey-epsteins-operations-by-billionaire-leon-black-seeks-documents-from-trump-administration
[^8]: Letter from Senator Ron Wyden to Chairman James Comer and Ranking Member Robert Garcia, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, regarding Leon Black, June 4, 2026. https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/wyden_letter_to_house_oversight_on_leon_black-epstein_060426.pdf
[^9]: Congressional Record, vol. 172, no. 40 (March 3, 2026), Senate, pp. S748 ff. (Produce Epstein Treasury Records Act, unanimous consent request and objection). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2026-03-03/html/CREC-2026-03-03-pt1-PgS748-2.htm ; S. 2746, 119th Congress. https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/2746
[^10]: Letter from Senator Ron Wyden to Jamie Dimon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, JPMorgan Chase & Co., September 24, 2025. https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/letter_from_senator_wyden_to_jpmorgan_chase_epstein_accounts_09-24-25pdf.pdf
[^11]: Letter from JPMorgan Chase & Co. to Senator Ron Wyden, Ranking Member, Committee on Finance, October 10, 2025. https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/101025jpmcresponsetowyden.pdf
[^12]: U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, "Wyden Releases New Report on Failure of Wall Street Banks to Blow the Whistle on Jeffrey Epstein's Sex Trafficking and Money Laundering Schemes," August 4, 2026 (background section). https://www.finance.senate.gov/ranking-members-news/wyden-releases-new-report-on-failure-of-wall-street-banks-to-blow-the-whistle-on-jeffrey-epsteins-sex-trafficking-and-money-laundering-schemes