Peter Thiel’s Dialog Club Uses Secret Rankings to Curate Elite Retreats

Dialog, a private network co-founded by Peter Thiel, assigns a concealed score to event attendees, ranking them by wealth and fame. Algorithms then decide seating, meeting pairings, and continued membership eligibility. WIRED obtained internal records that list personal data for nearly 200 prominent individuals scheduled for the club’s summer retreat, including home addresses, phone numbers, email accounts, dates of birth, photos, emergency contacts, food-allergy information, and voluntarily disclosed political leanings.

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Founded in 2006 by Thiel and data broker Auren Hoffman, Dialog operates as an invitation-only forum for politicians, investors, entrepreneurs, military leaders, executives, academics, and journalists. It offers two products: a membership that provides private dinners, global treks, concierge services, and a private group chat; and annual retreats that bring together 200 or more participants—members and guests—for multi-day, off-the-record discussions.

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Peter Thiel and Auren Hoffman founded Dialog. The club’s roster, called “dialogers,” spans elite figures. Public lists have identified non-members such as Maryland Governor Wes Moore, a former speaker, and other occasional guests. The upcoming retreat will feature current and former lawmakers, diplomats, and national-security officials leading sessions on artificial intelligence, geopolitics, and modern warfare.

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Dialog’s internal documents state the network has “over 1,000 paying members,” and more than 2,500 individuals have attended its retreats. The leaked dataset contains detailed personal identifiers for nearly 200 scheduled attendees, illustrating the depth of information the club aggregates.

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A past participant shared a Dialog document describing member benefits such as private dinners hosted in members’ homes worldwide, member-led global treks, concierge assistance, and a private group chat. The document also notes that retreats are separate from membership, functioning as temporary gatherings for members and invited guests.

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A directory on Dialog’s website lists a broader set of individuals, including non-members like Governor Wes Moore, while the confidential leak focuses on a curated list of nearly 200 attendees for the upcoming retreat. The discrepancy shows a lack of public clarity about formal membership versus invited guests.

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• “over 1,000 paying members,” — Dialog internal document

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• “invite-only community,” — Dialog internal document

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• “dialogers” — Dialog internal document

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• “hosted in members’ homes and private spaces around the world,” — Dialog internal document

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• “member-led global treks,” — Dialog internal document

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In August, Dialog will convene outside Dublin, Ireland, for a two-day program covering artificial intelligence, NATO’s future, battlefield technology, and the war in Iran. The agenda will be led by current and former policymakers, diplomats, and security officials, continuing the club’s pattern of high-level, off-record strategic discussions.

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