Mr. Epstein, the late financier and sex offender, started by putting $40 million into Valar Ventures, a firm backed by Mr. Thiel. Today that investment is worth about $170 million.
Jeffrey Epstein, the registered sex offender, met with many powerful people in finance and business during his career, but the late financier invested with only a few of them.
One of those people was Peter Thiel, the Silicon Valley billionaire.
In 2015 and 2016, Mr. Epstein put $40 million into two funds managed by Valar Ventures, a New York firm that was co-founded by Mr. Thiel. Today that investment is worth nearly $170 million, according to a confidential financial analysis of the estate reviewed by The New York Times and a statement provided by a Valar spokesman.
The investment in Valar, which specializes in providing start-up capital to financial services tech companies, is the largest asset still held by Mr. Epstein’s estate, some six years after he died by suicide in federal custody while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
Mr. Epstein’s investment with Mr. Thiel’s firm has not been previously reported or publicly disclosed.
There’s a good chance much of the windfall will not go to any of the roughly 200 victims whom the disgraced financier abused when they were teenagers or young women. Those victims have already received monetary settlements from the estate, which required them to sign broad releases that gave up the right to bring future claims against it or individuals associated with it.
The money is more likely to be distributed to one of Mr. Epstein’s former girlfriends and two of his long-term advisers, who have been named the beneficiaries of his estate.