Earlier this week, Swiss anarchist-hacker Maia Arson Crimew leaked information about Dialog, the secretive, invite-only organization cofounded by right-wing tech billionaire Peter Thiel in 2006. Among the figures listed on the leaked membership rolls are numerous major art collectors and arts patrons.
The organization convenes wealthy and powerful figures in tech, finance, politics, entertainment, and other sectors of American life for an annual retreat to “discuss topics off-the-record.” The existence of Dialog, which has been likened to a more hush-hush version of the World Economic Forum (i.e. Davos), hasn’t been exactly a secret: Last year, Semafor reported that the organization had purchased land near Washington, D.C. to build a permanent campus.
However, up until this week, little was known about its members or the content of its meetings. Crimew’s leak, first reported by Wired and the Hollywood Reporter, has changed all that. The leaked documents, hidden in Dialog’s website code, include a registration list for Dialog’s upcoming 2026 retreat on August 12–16 in Ireland, listing the names of 222 people and their membership status (e.g., active, guest, etc.). 87 of the 222 people on the list were marked as first-timers. Wired said it had independently verified the authenticity of the leaked documents.
In a post on Bluesky, Crimew published a list of 113 alleged members, including Top 200 collectors such as financier Henry Kravis, a major donor to MoMA; art world scion Nicholas Berggruen; former Google CEO Eric Schmidt; and hedge-funder John Arnold, as well as real estate billionaire and art collector Barry Sternlicht.
In addition to prominent right-wing figures like billionaire Elon Musk and Jared Kushner (also an art collector), the membership list notably included numerous Democrat figures like Senator Cory Booker, Colorado governor Jared Polis, LinkedIn cofounder (and major liberal donor) Reid Hoffman, and Maryland governor Wes Moore.
Per THR, the leaked documents include a list of topics for sessions at the August conference, including “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.” Fun!
A spokesperson for Arnold confirmed to ARTnews that he had attended Dialog conferences in the past, though not in several years. ARTnews reached out to representatives for Kravis, Berggruen, Schmidt, and Sternlicht, but did not hear back at press time.
