Tech magnate Peter Thiel meets Milei after a week of private contacts with the Argentine government
Thiel, whose fortune is estimated at over $23 billion, has spent at least a week in the Argentine capital. He is reported to have completed the purchase of a home in Buenos Aires
Peter Thiel, co-founder of Palantir and PayPal and one of the most influential figures in the global technology sector, met with President Javier Milei at the Casa Rosada on Thursday, official sources confirmed. The meeting, scheduled for 2:00 p.m., was the culmination of a week of reserved activity in Buenos Aires that included high-level contacts with key members of the Argentine government.
Thiel, whose fortune is estimated at over $23 billion, has spent at least a week in the Argentine capital with his family. According to local media, he is staying at a property in the Barrio Parque neighbourhood and is reported to have completed the purchase of a home in the same area. During his stay he held a private lunch with Santiago Caputo, the president’s chief political adviser, and attended a dinner at the home of Deregulation and State Transformation Minister Federico Sturzenegger, alongside Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno and economist Lucas Llach. The informal gathering centred on artificial intelligence, Argentina’s energy potential, and the country’s medium-term outlook. Over the weekend, Thiel attended the River Plate–Boca Juniors derby at the Monumental stadium, with access arranged by club officials.
The relationship between Thiel and Milei predates this visit. In May 2024, the two met at the Casa Rosada alongside businessman Alec Oxenford, who publicly recounted that Thiel viewed the Argentine president’s ideas as as relevant globally as they are for Argentina. They also crossed paths that year at the Milken Institute forum in Los Angeles, where Milei urged international business leaders to invest in the country.
Palantir, the data analytics company Thiel co-founded with early CIA backing, holds multibillion-dollar contracts with US intelligence and defence agencies, and its systems have been used to track migrants as part of the Trump administration’s deportation policies. The visit raised questions about a possible data or intelligence services agreement with the Argentine government, though neither side confirmed any negotiations were under way.
Thiel arrived in Buenos Aires after a stop in Rome, where he took part in private meetings linked to his views on technology and geopolitics. A close ally of Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance — who was once his employee — the magnate recently published a manifesto under the Palantir name advocating for the development of AI-powered weaponry and warning that a new era of deterrence built on AI is about to begin.
