Personal data from Dialog, a secretive private social club co-founded by former PayPal boss Peter Thiel and investor Auren Hoffman, has been leaked by Swiss hacktivist maia arson crimew. The group, established in 2006, regularly hosts invitation-only retreats for politicians, entrepreneurs, foreign officials, academics and Silicon Valley figures. Its next two-day gathering is scheduled outside Dublin in August.
According to the leaked files, attendees are ranked on a hidden scale of A, B or C, with the C grade awarded to the most famous and influential. Actor Josh Brolin is listed as a VIP, with notes citing his role as Thanos and the success of Avengers: Endgame, which grossed over $2.79 billion. Attendees are also given a “value-add” score from 1 to 4 based on ratings from Dialog staff. Those deemed to have “Value Add Too Low” or be a “Poor Culture Fit” can be disinvited from events. The grades are used to set fees, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars; lower-grade attendees are charged the full price roughly 70 per cent of the time, while only about a quarter of VIPs pay the higher amount.
The leaked agenda includes sessions titled “Bring Back Nuclear”, “Disinformation and Deepfakes”, “Contrarian AI Takes”, “Democracy Under Surveillance” and “Money (Does?) Buy Happiness.” Other planned discussions cover cult-building, moderated by the founder of the Christian site Pray.com, as well as “Navigating WWIII” and “How's Your Sex Life?”
Dialog also operates a matchmaking system for networking and dating, with staff pairing members and showing each a photo and short bio of the other. One note shows two members paired because they are “both in New York and work in government”. A “do-not-pair” list exists for spouses or professional associates, though sometimes no reason is given for a flag.
The leaked data includes home addresses, phone numbers, emails, dates of birth, food allergies and political leanings of some members. Crimew told Straight Arrow: “It's just wild to me how this once again shows that the people who run the world are so confident in their safety that they don't really bother with any proper operational security. Not even for their 'off the record' secret conventions where they all network and discuss our collective future.”
