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Peter Thiel is hosting 4 private sold-out lectures about the Antichrist at a club in San Francisco

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PayPal and Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel is embarking on an unusual intellectual journey this fall—delivering a sold-out four-part lecture series on the biblical figure of the Antichrist. The private lectures, hosted by The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, represent the latest evolution in Thiel’s increasingly public theological interests, which intertwine his Christian faith with his concerns about technology’s potential to enable authoritarian control.

The series, organized by the nonprofit Acts 17 Collective, will explore “the theological and technological dimensions of the Antichrist” in four sessions across September and October. The lectures remain off-the-record, with no transcripts or recordings made public, but they draw upon the work of René Girard, the French philosopher who profoundly influenced Thiel during his Stanford undergraduate years, along with thinkers like Francis Bacon and Carl Schmitt.

Thiel’s theological preoccupations might seem incongruous with his business empire, but they reflect a consistent worldview shaped by Girard’s “mimetic theory“—the idea that human desires are learned through imitation, often leading to conflict and violence. This philosophical framework reportedly influenced Thiel’s $500,000 angel investment in Facebook in 2004, which he credits to recognizing the mimetic nature of social media.

The 57-year-old billionaire, worth an estimated $20.8 billion according to Forbes, built his fortune through a series of contrarian investments that challenged conventional Silicon Valley wisdom. His investment philosophy centers on identifying monopoly-like businesses and backing transformative technologies before they gain mainstream recognition. This approach led to early successes with PayPal, which sold to eBay for $1.5 billion in 2002, and later investments in companies like Palantir Technologies, the data-analytics firm he co-founded in 2003.

Palantir has emerged as perhaps Thiel’s most controversial venture, providing surveillance and data analysis tools to government agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Defense, and intelligence services. The company’s “Gotham” platform enables law enforcement to connect vast datasets, creating detailed profiles of individuals by combining everything from DMV records to social media activity. Recent Trump administration contracts have expanded Palantir’s reach across federal agencies, raising concerns about potential misuse for political targeting.

A theory of technological apocalypse

Thiel’s fascination with the Antichrist concept stems from his belief that such a figure would rise to power not through overt evil, but by exploiting technological fears to impose global control. In a recent New York Times interview, Thiel said his “speculative thesis” about how the Antichrist might emerge: “The way the Antichrist would take over the world is you talk about Armageddon nonstop. You talk about existential risk nonstop.”

This theory positions the Antichrist as someone who would offer “peace and safety” while using fear of catastrophic technological risks—artificial intelligence dangers, nuclear war, climate change—to justify unprecedented surveillance and control measures. The irony, as some critics note, is that Thiel himself frequently discusses apocalyptic scenarios while building the very surveillance technologies that could enable such control.

Thiel has previously suggested that modern technology provides the “mechanism” that fictional depictions of the Antichrist lacked: the ability to achieve global dominance through data integration and surveillance rather than traditional conquest. Thiel’s company Palantir exemplifies this capability, with its platforms designed to synthesize disparate information sources into comprehensive intelligence systems.

Thiel’s theological interests have grown more public in recent years, coinciding with his increased political influence. He was an early Trump supporter and delegate at the 2016 Republican National Convention, where he made history as the first openly gay speaker to declare his sexuality from the stage. His support for political figures like J.D. Vance, whom he helped launch into politics, reflects his belief that technological stagnation requires disruptive political change.

The Acts 17 Collective—which organized Thiel’s Antichrist lecture series and takes its name from Acts 17, where the apostle Paul preached to cultural elites in Athens and other intellectual centers—targets wealthy tech leaders by recognizing that traditional evangelical approaches often fail to resonate in secular tech culture. For Thiel, who grew up Lutheran but describes himself as having complicated religious views, his interpretation draws heavily on Girard’s work on sacrifice, violence, and social order, seeing Christianity as uniquely equipped to diagnose the dangers of society that technology can amplify.

The big picture

The timing of Thiel’s Antichrist lectures coincides with growing scrutiny of Palantir’s expanding role in government surveillance. Under the Trump administration, the company has secured over $113 million in federal contracts, with its technology now deployed across at least four major agencies. The company’s ability to integrate data from multiple sources has raised concerns among civil liberties advocates and even some Republicans about the potential for abuse.

Critics argue that Thiel’s warnings about the Antichrist ring hollow given his role in building the very surveillance infrastructure that could enable authoritarian control. Thirteen former Palantir employees recently signed a letter urging the company to cease its work with the Trump administration, citing concerns about how the technology might be misused for political targeting.

These tensions reflect broader questions about the role of technology companies in democratic governance. As Palantir’s tools become increasingly sophisticated, the line between legitimate security applications and potential authoritarian abuse becomes harder to define. Thiel’s theological framework offers one lens for understanding these risks, but whether his Antichrist lectures represent genuine concern about technological overreach or an attempt to deflect criticism of his own companies remains an open question.

Palantir did not immediately respond to Fortune‘s request for comment.

For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.



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SpaceX to offer insider shares at record-setting $800 billion valuation

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SpaceX is preparing to sell insider shares in a transaction that would value Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite maker at as much as $800 billion, people familiar with the matter said, reclaiming the title of the world’s most valuable private company. 

The details, discussed by SpaceX’s board of directors on Thursday at its Starbase hub in Texas, could change based on interest from insider sellers and buyers or other factors, said some of the people, who asked not to be identified as the information isn’t public. SpaceX is also exploring a possible initial public offering as soon as late next year, one of the people said. 

Another person briefed on the matter said that the price under discussion for the sale of some employees and investors’ shares is higher than $400 apiece, which would value SpaceX at between $750 billion and $800 billion. The company wouldn’t raise any funds though this planned sale, though a successful offering at such levels would catapult it past the record of $500 billion valuation achieved by OpenAI in October.

Elon Musk on Saturday denied that SpaceX is raising money at a $800 billion valuation without addressing Bloomberg’s reporting on the planned offering of insiders’ shares. 

“SpaceX has been cash flow positive for many years and does periodic stock buybacks twice a year to provide liquidity for employees and investors,” Musk said in a post on his social media platform X. 

The share sale price under discussion would be a substantial increase from the $212 a share set in July, when the company raised money and sold shares at a valuation of $400 billion. The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times earlier reported the $800 billion valuation target.

News of SpaceX’s valuation sent shares of EchoStar Corp., a satellite TV and wireless company, up as much as 18%. Last month, EchoStar had agreed to sell spectrum licenses to SpaceX for $2.6 billion, adding to an earlier agreement to sell about $17 billion in wireless spectrum to Musk’s company.

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The world’s most prolific rocket launcher, SpaceX dominates the space industry with its Falcon 9 rocket that lifts satellites and people to orbit.

SpaceX is also the industry leader in providing internet services from low-Earth orbit through Starlink, a system of more than 9,000 satellites that is far ahead of competitors including Amazon.com Inc.’s Amazon Leo.

Elite Group

SpaceX is among an elite group of companies that have the ability to raise funds at $100 billion-plus valuations while delaying or denying they have any plan to go public. 

An IPO of the company at an $800 billion value would vault SpaceX into another rarefied group — the 20 largest public companies, a few notches below Musk’s Tesla Inc. 

If SpaceX sold 5% of the company at that valuation, it would have to sell $40 billion of stock — making it the biggest IPO of all time, well above Saudi Aramco’s $29 billion listing in 2019. The firm sold just 1.5% of the company in that offering, a much smaller slice than the majority of publicly traded firms make available.

A listing would also subject SpaceX to the volatility of being a public company, versus private firms whose valuations are closely guarded secrets. Space and defense company IPOs have had a mixed reception in 2025. Karman Holdings Inc.’s stock has nearly tripled since its debut, while Firefly Aerospace Inc. and Voyager Technologies Inc. have plunged by double-digit percentages since their debuts.

SpaceX executives have repeatedly floated the idea of spinning off SpaceX’s Starlink business into a separate, publicly traded company — a concept President Gwynne Shotwell first suggested in 2020. 

However, Musk cast doubt on the prospect publicly over the years and Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen said in 2024 that a Starlink IPO would be something that would take place more likely “in the years to come.”

The Information, citing people familiar with the discussions, separately reported on Friday that SpaceX has told investors and financial institution representatives that it’s aiming for an IPO of the entire company in the second half of next year.

Read More: How to Buy SpaceX: A Guide for the Eager, Pre-IPO

A so-called tender or secondary offering, through which employees and some early shareholders can sell shares, provides investors in closely held companies such as SpaceX a way to generate liquidity.

SpaceX is working to develop its new Starship vehicle, advertised as the most powerful rocket ever developed to loft huge numbers of Starlink satellites as well as carry cargo and people to moon and, eventually, Mars.



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National Park Service drops free admission on MLK Day and Juneteenth while adding Trump’s birthday

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The National Park Service will offer free admission to U.S. residents on President Donald Trump’s birthday next year — which also happens to be Flag Day — but is eliminating the benefit for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth.

The new list of free admission days for Americans is the latest example of the Trump administration downplaying America’s civil rights history while also promoting the president’s image, name and legacy.

Last year, the list of free days included Martin Luther King Jr Day and Juneteenth — which is June 19 — but not June 14, Trump’s birthday.

The new free-admission policy takes effect Jan. 1 and was one of several changes announced by the Park Service late last month, including higher admission fees for international visitors.

The other days of free park admission in 2026 are Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Constitution Day, Veterans Day, President Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday (Oct. 27) and the anniversary of the creation of the Park Service (Aug. 25).

Eliminating Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth, which commemorates the day in 1865 when the last enslaved Americans were emancipated, removes two of the nation’s most prominent civil rights holidays.

Some civil rights leaders voiced opposition to the change after news about it began spreading over the weekend.

“The raw & rank racism here stinks to high heaven,” Harvard Kennedy School professor Cornell William Brooks, a former president of the NAACP, wrote on social media about the new policy.

Kristen Brengel, a spokesperson for the National Parks Conservation Association, said that while presidential administrations have tweaked the free days in the past, the elimination of Martin Luther King Jr. Day is particularly concerning. For one, the day has become a popular day of service for community groups that use the free day to perform volunteer projects at parks.

That will now be much more expensive, said Brengel, whose organization is a nonprofit that advocates for the park system.

“Not only does it recognize an American hero, it’s also a day when people go into parks to clean them up,” Brengel said. “Martin Luther King Jr. deserves a day of recognition … For some reason, Black history has repeatedly been targeted by this administration, and it shouldn’t be.”

Some Democratic lawmakers also weighed in to object to the new policy.

“The President didn’t just add his own birthday to the list, he removed both of these holidays that mark Black Americans’ struggle for civil rights and freedom,” said Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada. “Our country deserves better.”

A spokesperson for the National Park Service did not immediately respond to questions on Saturday seeking information about the reasons behind the changes.

Since taking office, Trump has sought to eliminate programs seen as promoting diversity across the federal government, actions that have erased or downplayed America’s history of racism as well as the civil rights victories of Black Americans.

Self-promotion is an old habit of the president’s and one he has continued in his second term. He unsuccessfully put himself forwardfor the Nobel Peace Prize, renamed the U.S. Institute of Peace after himself, sought to put his name on the planned NFL stadium in the nation’s capital and had a new children’s savings program named after him.

Some Republican lawmakers have suggested putting his visage on Mount Rushmore and the $100 bill.



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JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says Europe has a ‘real problem’

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JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon called out slow bureaucracy in Europe in a warning that a “weak” continent poses a major economic risk to the US.

“Europe has a real problem,” Dimon said Saturday at the Reagan National Defense Forum. “They do some wonderful things on their safety nets. But they’ve driven business out, they’ve driven investment out, they’ve driven innovation out. It’s kind of coming back.”

While he praised some European leaders who he said were aware of the issues, he cautioned politics is “really hard.” 

Dimon, leader of the biggest US bank, has long said that the risk of a fragmented Europe is among the major challenges facing the world. In his letter to shareholders released earlier this year, he said that Europe has “some serious issues to fix.”

On Saturday, he praised the creation of the euro and Europe’s push for peace. But he warned that a reduction in military efforts and challenges trying to reach agreement within the European Union are threatening the continent.

“If they fragment, then you can say that America first will not be around anymore,” Dimon said. “It will hurt us more than anybody else because they are a major ally in every single way, including common values, which are really important.”

He said the US should help.

“We need a long-term strategy to help them become strong,” Dimon said. “A weak Europe is bad for us.”

The administration of President Donald Trump issued a new national security strategy that directed US interests toward the Western Hemisphere and protection of the homeland while dismissing Europe as a continent headed toward “civilizational erasure.”

Read More: Trump’s National Security Strategy Veers Inward in Telling Shift

JPMorgan has been ramping up its push to spur more investments in the national defense sector. In October, the bank announced that it would funnel $1.5 trillion into industries that bolster US economic security and resiliency over the next 10 years — as much as $500 billion more than what it would’ve provided anyway. 

Dimon said in the statement that it’s “painfully clear that the United States has allowed itself to become too reliant on unreliable sources of critical minerals, products and manufacturing.”

Investment banker Jay Horine oversees the effort, which Dimon called “100% commercial.” It will focus on four areas: supply chain and advanced manufacturing; defense and aerospace; energy independence and resilience; and frontier and strategic technologies. 

The bank will also invest as much as $10 billion of its own capital to help certain companies expand, innovate or accelerate strategic manufacturing.

Separately on Saturday, Dimon praised Trump for finding ways to roll back bureaucracy in the government.

“There is no question that this administration is trying to bring an axe to some of the bureaucracy that held back America,” Dimon said. “That is a good thing and we can do it and still keep the world safe, for safe food and safe banks and all the stuff like that.”



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