Mr. Thiel prides himself on his elaborate parties, and his inauguration event, held in his seven-bedroom home, involved a hired juggler who, instead of juggling, instead asked trivial questions of guests about American presidents. Snack cakes and other snacks were passed around and larger snacks were served at stations. (The Mar-a-Lago station had shrimp, steak and salad with Thousand Island dressing; there was also a meal delivery from McDonald's.) Gift bags were filled with small bottles of Moët champagne. There were red MAGA hats, of course.
Prominent guests from the technology industry, on a predominantly male list, included OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, crypto investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, and after a brief period of negotiating with security over the guest list , Alexandr Wang. Mr. Wang, who runs one of the world's most celebrated artificial intelligence startups, ScaleAI, was able to talk his way into the mansion, which Mr. Thiel bought several years ago from Wilbur Ross, the former Commerce Secretary of Mr. Trump.
Silicon Valley politics has developed a right-wing trend since Trump's election, and many of that movement's most important personalities were featured on the Thiel Party. Guests included tech podcasters Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis and David Friedberg, hosts of the “All-In” show with Mr. Sacks; former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick; incoming government officials such as Jacob Helberg, Ken Howery and Sriram Krishnan, all from Silicon Valley; and Senators Bill Hagerty, Ted Cruz and Dave McCormick.
House Speaker Mike Johnson described the party as “a lot of fun,” with the best part being “the company.” Senator Ted Cruz, who has worked to build a relationship with Mr. Thiel over the years, said this was in fact not the best part of the weekend. That, he said, “will be Monday afternoon.”
