Inside the Hidden Member Ranking System of the Dialog Club Associated with Peter Thiel

Dialog, the exclusive network co-founded by Peter Thiel, evaluates its event participants on a concealed scale, ranking them by wealth and notoriety, monitoring their connections, and employing algorithms to determine whom they should meet, where they should sit, and who may no longer be relevant, WIRED has discovered.

These records are part of a collection of internal data acquired by WIRED from a confidential source, containing personal details of nearly 200 notable individuals slated to attend the group’s annual retreat this summer. The information features home addresses, private phone numbers and email addresses, birthdates, photographs, and emergency contact details, along with food allergies and political affiliations shared by some members.

This data is separate from a publicly accessible list of individuals associated with Dialog that was inadvertently exposed on the organization’s website and has been circulating online since earlier this week—a more informal directory that seems to include nonmembers, such as Maryland governor Wes Moore, a prior event speaker, and other external guests who interacted with Dialog over the years.

Founded in 2006 by Thiel and data broker Auren Hoffman, Dialog is an exclusive club that gathers politicians, investors, entrepreneurs, military leaders, executives, academics, and journalists for invitation-only, off-the-record retreats. A Dialog document shared by a former participant claims it has “over 1,000 paying members,” with more than 2,500 individuals having attended its annual retreats.

The document describes Dialog as an “invite-only community,” differentiating between two offerings: membership and retreats. The former allows members—the group refers to them as “dialogers”—to enjoy private dinners “held in members’ homes and exclusive locations worldwide,” in addition to “member-led global treks,” concierge services, a private group chat, and more. Retreats gather groups of 200 or more individuals—who are not necessarily members—for meetings lasting three to four days. This August, for example, members, speakers, and guests are scheduled to convene outside Dublin, Ireland, for two days of discussions on artificial intelligence, geopolitics, and modern warfare—from NATO’s future to battlefield technology to the conflict in Iran—led by current and former lawmakers, diplomats, and national security officials.

(Disclosure: Nick Thompson, a former editor in chief of WIRED and current CEO of The Atlantic, is included in both the public list and unreleased records. He declined to comment on whether he is a Dialog member.)

Dialog assigns grades to individuals prior to their membership. Of the 192 files reviewed by WIRED, 130 are marked as members. The remaining prospects feature labels such as “First Time Dialoger” or “Warm.” Everyone—both members and prospective invitees—is given a grade of A, B, or C. The “C” grade seems reserved for the most prominent and influential; only one in seven received it. The majority—141 of 192—were given a “B.” The top tier, “A,” appears to be mainly allocated to older, established members whom the graders consider less notable.

Actor Josh Brolin—who, based on the records, has never participated in a Dialog retreat—is classified as a VIP primarily due to his fame: “His role as Thanos in the Avengers series and participation in high-grossing films like Avengers: Endgame, which earned over $2.79 billion, enhance his visibility,” notes one entry, with staff further pointing to his Instagram following of over 3.4 million.

Conversely, economist Tyler Cowen was initially denied a VIP “C” classification after the group’s AI tool labeled him as “widely recognized within his field” but not a leader of “an organization that is a household name to the average person.” (Dialog staff later overruled the AI tool, which helped compile dossiers on at least 26 individuals listed by the group.)

Brolin did not reply to WIRED’s inquiry for comment. One of his representatives informed The Hollywood Reporter that he wants “to know what the fuck he got himself into.” Cowen did not respond to a request for comment.