THE NEW YORK TIMES:
The billionaire’s new roots in Argentina are said to be partly motivated by concerns about the future of the United States and shared beliefs with Argentina’s right-wing leader.
This screenshot has been taken from this NYT article. | Peter Thiel, right, arriving for a meeting with President Javier Milei at the Casa Rosada Presidential Palace in Buenos Aires in April. | Matias Baglietto/Reuters
The Saturday tournament at the Buenos Aires chess club hosted its usual lineup of players, including an accountant, a college student and schoolchildren. But this time, hunched over the club’s tiny wooden tables with them, was a new entrant: Peter Thiel, the right-wing tech billionaire and Trump donor.
Mr. Thiel — who, according to one of the participants, “did not play badly” and came in third — had recently decamped from his homes in Los Angeles and Miami to establish a foothold thousands of miles away in Argentina’s capital.
Over the past two months, Mr. Thiel has met with the country’s president, Javier Milei, and his ministers; purchased a mansion in one of Buenos Aires’ most exclusive neighborhoods; and hosted a dinner with local economists where he discussed the Antichrist,
one of his favorite conversation topics, according to Argentine officials and people familiar with Mr. Thiel’s activities.
Mr. Thiel, who has a history of collecting backup countries as he hedges his bets against the United States, is considering making Argentina another Plan B, according to two people familiar with his thinking. Born in Germany and raised in the United States, he received citizenship in New Zealand in 2011, and applied for
a passport in Malta in 2022.
His new roots in Argentina are partly motivated by his concerns about the direction of the United States, the people familiar with his thinking say, particularly California, where an initiative on November’s ballot could lead to a significant tax on billionaires.
Argentina, a nation relatively insulated from potential conflicts in the Northern Hemisphere, also fits as a potential escape hatch from other risks that Mr. Thiel has publicly warned about — nuclear war and runaway artificial intelligence.
But Mr. Thiel has also been energized by what he’s discovered in Argentina, finding harmony with Mr. Milei’s libertarian slash-and-burn governance and becoming enamored with Buenos Aires’ vibrancy, the people said. They, and others familiar with the billionaire’s activities and discussions about the country, spoke on condition of anonymity to share private conversations.
Mr. Thiel did not respond to a request for comment.
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Emma Bubola and
Ryan Mac | Emma Bubola reported from Buenos Aires, and Ryan Mac from Los Angeles. |Thursday, May 28, 2026
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