Billionaire tech investor and political influencer Peter Thiel has been hosting a series of off-the-record lectures in San Francisco about the antichrist and the end of the world. The four-part series, which ran from 15 September to 6 October 2025, explored biblical prophecies and warned that Armageddon could be imminent. Thiel, who describes himself as a “small-o orthodox Christian”, suggested that the antichrist might already be present, potentially embodied by entities such as the United States or environmental activist Greta Thunberg.
During the lectures, Thiel defined the antichrist as “an evil king or tyrant or anti-messiah who appears in the end times”. He expressed concerns that international agencies, environmentalism, and technological guardrails could accelerate the rise of this figure. The talks blended biblical passages, recent history, philosophy, and conspiracy theories, with references to JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, video games, and conversations with Elon Musk and Benjamin Netanyahu. Thiel also criticised Bill Gates, calling him “a very, very awful person”.
Tickets for the lectures cost $200 and sold out within hours. Attendees were strictly forbidden from recording or publishing content, with at least one person losing their ticket after sharing notes online. The Guardian obtained recordings from an anonymous attendee, which Thiel’s spokesperson did not dispute, though they corrected a transcription error regarding Jews and the antichrist.
Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, has long been a prominent figure in conservative politics, backing Donald Trump and JD Vance. His lectures drew on thinkers such as René Girard and Carl Schmitt, with the series inspired by English Catholic theologian John Henry Newman. Despite his influence in tech and politics, Thiel’s theological musings reveal a lesser-known preoccupation with eschatology, which he has explored for decades.
