Earlier this week, Swiss anarchist-hacker Maia Arson Crimew released leaked information about Dialog, a highly private, invite-only organization co-founded in 2006 by right-wing tech billionaire Peter Thiel. The leak has drawn fresh attention to the group’s inner workings, particularly the presence of several prominent art collectors and cultural patrons among its reported members.
Dialog brings together influential figures from technology, finance, politics, entertainment, and other elite sectors for an annual, off-the-record retreat described as a space for private, informal discussion. While the organization has never been entirely unknown—last year Semafor reported that it had purchased land near Washington, D.C. to establish a permanent campus—its membership list and internal agenda had largely remained out of public view until now.
That changed with Crimew’s leak, first reported by Wired and The Hollywood Reporter. The material, reportedly embedded within Dialog’s website code, includes a registration list for the organization’s 2026 retreat scheduled for August 12–16 in Ireland. The document lists 222 attendees and categorizes their participation status, such as “active” or “guest,” with 87 individuals identified as first-time participants. Wired stated it had independently verified the authenticity of the files.
In a public post on Bluesky, Crimew shared a partial list of 113 alleged members. Among the names were several well-known figures in the art and collecting world, including financier Henry Kravis, a major supporter of the Museum of Modern Art; art-world heir and philanthropist Nicolas Berggruen; former Google CEO Eric Schmidt; hedge fund manager John Arnold; and real estate billionaire and art collector Barry Sternlicht.
The list also reportedly includes a mix of politically influential figures across the spectrum. Alongside right-leaning figures such as Elon Musk and Jared Kushner—both known art collectors in addition to their business and political profiles—it also names prominent Democrats, including Senator Cory Booker, Colorado Governor Jared Polis, LinkedIn cofounder and major donor Reid Hoffman, and Maryland Governor Wes Moore.
According to reporting from The Hollywood Reporter, the leaked documents also contain a proposed lineup of discussion topics for the upcoming conference. These include subjects such as “Bring Back Nuclear,” “Disinformation & Deepfakes,” “Battlefield Technologies,” “Democracy Under Surveillance,” “Taiwan and the AI Race,” “Three Predictions in Iran,” “Build-a-Party,” “Money (Does?) Buy Happiness,” “How’s Your Sex Life,” “It’s Fun to be in Charge,” “Research-Based Longevity Hacks,” “Build-a-Cult,” and “Navigating WWIII.”
A spokesperson for John Arnold confirmed to ARTnews that he had attended past Dialog gatherings, though not in recent years. Representatives for Kravis, Berggruen, Schmidt, and Sternlicht did not respond to requests for comment at the time of reporting.
