It would be as true for Thiel as it was for Denton, that their nearly unbroken string of success would make them both rightfully believe they were special and extraordinary. Both socially awkward, opaque, men that someone who spent time with both of them would describe as appearing to live inside their own sci-fi novel. Both free-market libertarians who distrust the “system.” Both builders-entrepreneurs. Both foreign born, both immigrants who chased the American dream and bristled at convention.

Yet as different as they are, what I could not shake was just how similar they were: Both rich. Nick, the seeker of secrets Peter, a believer in their power and sacredness. Over breakfast the next morning, we began the first of many conversations about the events that had transpired from 2007 and continue to this day.Īs I would come to find in my conversations, these figures were a study in contrasts: Denton, the thoughtful gossip merchant Thiel, the aggressive philosopher strongman. Then, 20 blocks downtown the next night in a $5 million apartment that had until recently been rented out to cover the mortgage while the courts decided whether he would be forced to sell it in bankruptcy, Denton hosted a salon of writers and thinkers to discuss the future of media. But I can bet that it will surprise us and that it will make complete sense within his own almost incomprehensible, complete, interior worldview.Soon I found myself in each of their apartments first at Thiel’s in Union Square, where over a three course dinner prepared by the chef he travels with, Thiel revealed his painstakingly organized plot to destroy Gawker and the lawsuits he had instigated, funded and directed on behalf of Hulk Hogan and others in order to do it. As a society, particularly here in the US, we face a number of very deep systemic threats, including corruption and strong men, so perhaps there's something to learn from this ruthlessly effective conspiracy that set out to do something that no-one thought was possible, and in fact accomplished that thing.

It's pretty remarkable that this 25, 26-year-old manages to predict almost exactly the timeline and budget that results in the unprecedented bankruptcy of a media outlet that was doing, at that time, more than five billion page views a year.

He predicts this would take three to five years, that it would cost north of $10 million, but he's very confident they could be successful.

Peter thiel conspiracy