By LauraAboli
The billionaire tech investor has decamped from Los Angeles and Miami to Buenos Aires, where he’s purchased a mansion in one of the city’s most exclusive neighborhoods, enrolled his children in local schools, and is meeting regularly with President Javier Milei.
This is Thiel’s third “backup country,” he received New Zealand citizenship in 2011 and applied for a Malta passport in 2022. Now Argentina is becoming his primary hedge against the United States.
His stated motivations: concerns about California’s proposed 5% billionaire wealth tax, worries about the direction of the U.S., and the risk of nuclear war or runaway AI. Argentina, geographically insulated from Northern Hemisphere conflicts, fits the profile.
But Thiel has also found ideological alignment with Milei’s libertarian slash-and-burn governance including deregulation, government spending cuts, aversion to taxes and “wokeness.” The two met in person in 2024 (brokered by the tech entrepreneur who founded OLX, which Thiel’s VC firm funded). Since arriving in April, Thiel has dined with Milei’s deregulation minister, met with the economy minister, and spent time at the presidential house discussing how to ensure libertarianism survives beyond Milei’s term.
Thiel isn’t just seeking personal refuge, Thiel is building an archipelago of private governance zones across the hemisphere in places where billionaires can operate outside state jurisdiction. Argentina is the latest addition.
Original source: https://t.me/LauraAbolichannel/84843