Powerscourt Estate 'taking legal advice' regarding Peter Thiel's private retreat

A spokesperson said that they would cancel the event if it was within their remit to do so

Co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, Peter Thiel is planning a retreat this summer in Dublin with an elite network of over 220 tech, financial and political figures, including NATO Europe commander Alexus Grynkewich and US Senator Ted Cruz.(Photo by Marco Bello/Getty Images)

Powerscourt Estate,  chosen to host Palantir founder Peter Thiel's private retreat this summer, has said it is currently taking legal advice as to whether or not it can affect the planned event. 

A leaked document earlier this week showed that the Palantir and PayPal co-founder had arranged a secret retreat for an elite network of over 220 tech, financial and political figures, including NATO Europe commander Alexus Grynkewich and US Senator Ted Cruz. The four-day event was set to take place at Wicklow's Powerscourt Hotel.

However, in a statement to the Irish Examiner, a spokesperson for Powerscourt Estate said it was currently taking legal advice as to whether it has the power to affect the event.

"Within the last 36 hours Powerscourt Estate has, through media coverage, become aware of an event scheduled to take place in August on the premises of Powerscourt Hotel and Spa, a long-standing tenant of the Estate," the spokesperson said.

"The Estate wishes to unreservedly state that if it was within their remit they would cancel the event planned. However, as they have a legally binding lease with MHL Hotels this is not possible.

"Powerscourt Estate are currently taking legal advice as to whether or not they can affect the planned event. 

"No further comment will be made at this time."

MHL Hotels

The MHL Hotel Collection is the second largest hotel group in Dublin City, operating eight hotels in the capital including the Spencer Hotel, Hilton Dublin, and the Intercontinental Dublin. It also operates The Glenlo Abbey Hotel and Golf Course in Galway and the Limerick Strand Hotel, in addition to Powerscourt Hotel. 

The group is led by Chairman of the Board of Liberty Media Corporation, John Malone, along with Paul Higgins and John Lally. 

Tech magazine Wired reported on Wednesday that a private, invitation-only group known as Dialog, founded by billionaire Thiel in 2006, is planning a four-day retreat from August 12-16 at the five-star Powerscourt Hotel in Wicklow.

Private Dialog event

Wired said the internal records from the private group were exposed online, naming participants and revealing personal details that were intended to remain private.

Dialog has never disclosed its members, but the leak lists several participants involved in the August trip to Powerscourt, naming 222 people in total and their respective membership status, which include labels such as "active member" and "guest."

The same leak also revealed a program of off-the-record events scheduled for the August retreat, which include: "Money (Does?) Buy Happiness,” “Bring Back Nuclear,” “Navigating WWIII,” “Battlefield Technologies,” and “How’s Your Sex Life?” Other events included talks such as “Build-a-Cult,” moderated by the founder of the Christian networking site Pray.com, and “Build-a-Party,” run by a former White House national security official.

A spokesperson for Powerscourt Estate said that they would cancel the event if it was within their remit to do so

In addition to Ted Cruz and Alexus Grynkewich, the directory lists potential guests including sitting Trump administration officials, six former members of PayPal, and a sitting ambassador to the United States, along with the founders and directors of some of the largest surveillance, data-broker, and advertising-data companies in the world.

Of the 222 people signed up for the August retreat, 87 are marked as first-time attendees, according to the leaked records.

Dialog founder Peter Thiel has become one of the most politically influential entrepreneurs and political activists in the US. An early investor in Facebook and co-founder of payments giant PayPal, Thiel is also the co-founder and chairman of Palantir, which has been criticised for its role in human surveillance, military operations and privacy breaches.

Palantir's customer base includes federal agencies, governments and private companies. It has previously partnered with US immigration police to develop software for the agency, and in 2024, the company entered a strategic partnership with Israel, providing its defence ministry with AI models and data analysis tools to support the country's war efforts.

The venture capitalist is also a vocal supporter of Trump and was one of the first in Silicon Valley to endorse the president during his first campaign in 2016.

The MHL Hotel Collection has been contacted for comment.