---
title: "FBI Investigation Targets Trump Booster Peter Thiel’s VC Firm"
description: "The FBI has reportedly begun investigating Mithril Capital, the venture capital firm co-founded by Silicon Valley tycoon Peter Thiel."
date: "2019-09-12"
modified: "2019-09-12"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/fbi-investigation-trump-peter-thiel-venture"
categories:
  - "Future Society"
tags:
  - "finance"
  - "mithril"
  - "peter thiel"
  - "silicon valley"
  - "the digest"
---

# FBI Investigation Targets Trump Booster Peter Thiel’s VC Firm

![The FBI has reportedly begun investigating Mithril Capital, the venture capital firm co-founded by Silicon Valley tycoon Peter Thiel.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/fbi-investigation-trump-peter-thiel-venture.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: JD Lasica via Flickr\</em\>*

## Heightened Scrutiny

The FBI has turned its all-seeing eye toward Mithril Capital, the venture capital firm co-founded by Silicon Valley tycoon Peter Thiel — an industry kingmaker who's [one of the most prominent](<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-01/peter-thiel-praises-trump-pledges-to-support-his-2020-campaign>) supporters of the Trump administration in tech.

It's unclear specifically what prompted the FBI to scrutinize the firm's business practices, but [*Recode* reports](<https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/9/12/20859055/mithril-capital-federal-investigation-peter-thiel-ajay-royan>) a host of possibilities ranging from questionable tax strategies to mismanagement of investors' money — a shakeup, in either case, at the explosive intersection of tech and politics.

## And My Axe

The FBI isn't alone in its heightened scrutiny of Mithril, which borrows its name from a fictional metal in "Lord of the Rings."

Also probing the company's finances is Cambridge Associates, a prominent investment adviser for the mega-rich that has put millions of dollars into Mithril's coffers, according to *Recode*. Cambridge is looking into whether the firm has been overly-selective with investments, choosing to sit on investors' cash and collect higher management fees as a result.

## All-Seeing Eye

While Thiel isn't involved in day-to-day operations at Mithril, his money and reputation are inexorably linked with its performance.

That's relevant because the firm is also dealing with low morale, per *Recode,* related to the dual investigations into its practices. It reportedly once collected staffers' computers and phones in a bid to determine who'd been talking to the press and investigators — though a spokesperson told *Recode* that it was merely a "device upgrade."

***Disclosure**: The Thiel Foundation previously [provided grant funding](<https://singularityu.org/2010/11/19/news-thiel-foundation-awards-grant-to-singularity-university/>) to Futurism's parent company, Singularity University.*

**READ MORE:** [The FBI is investigating a venture capital fund started by Peter Thiel for financial misconduct](<https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/9/12/20859055/mithril-capital-federal-investigation-peter-thiel-ajay-royan>) \[*Recode*\]

**More on Mithril Capital:** *[The Next Head of the FDA May be a Man Who is Fighting a War Against Aging](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/the-next-head-of-the-fda-may-be-a-man-who-is-fighting-a-war-against-aging>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)