Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg were photographed at the same “wild” dinner party as convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein in 2015—years after Epstein was already a known child sex offender—according to documents just released by the Department of Justice.
WHAT’S GOING ON: The image shows Musk sitting at a table with the Meta founder and other Silicon Valley heavyweights at an August 2, 2015 dinner in Palo Alto, California. Epstein emailed himself the photo and bragged about attending to multiple people, including billionaire Tom Pritzker (cousin of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker).
“I had dinner with zuckerburg, mu=k, thiel hoffman, wild,” Epstein wrote, apparently too excited to spell correctly.
The guest list was essentially a who’s-who of tech billionaires: PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman (who reportedly hosted the dinner), and MIT neuroscientist Ed Boyden.
BUT BUT BUT: The denials are flying. A Meta spokesperson said the dinner wasn’t organized by Epstein and that Zuckerberg only met him “in passing” and never spoke to him again. Musk has repeatedly insisted he’s never attended any Epstein-organized party (but that might simply be because he wasn’t invited, as multiple files released show him begging to be invited).
“I don’t recall introducing Epstein to anyone, as I don’t know the guy well enough to do so, Epstein is obviously a creep and Zuckerberg is not a friend of mine,” Musk told Vanity Fair back in 2019 when the outlet first reported on the dinner.
After the new documents dropped, Musk took to X to reiterate: “I have never been to any Epstein parties ever and have many times call for the prosecution of those who have committed crimes with Epstein.”
Hoffman has also denied wrongdoing but says he “regrets” his association with Epstein. The two billionaires have reportedly been trading attacks over each other’s mentions in the newly released files.
THE DETAILS: Epstein first mentioned the dinner in an email to CBS News contributor Peter Attia (who is now facing his own controversy over his Epstein ties): “Where are you? I might be in LA Monday, burbank to look at the interior of the other bbj, tonite dinner with Musk, Thiel, Zuckerburg.”
“Sounds like an awesome dinner,” Attia replied.
WHY IT MATTERS: This was 2015. Epstein had already served time for soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008. He was a registered sex offender. Everyone knew. And yet some of the most powerful people in technology—men who now control the platforms where billions get their information, who advise governments, who shape the future of AI—were apparently comfortable enough to sit down for a “wild” dinner with him.
The photo is a reminder that proximity to power often trumps accountability. These men built empires on disruption and “moving fast,” but when it came to a known predator in their midst, they moved slowly indeed.