Valar Ventures

Valar Ventures was Peter Thiel's international venture capital platform focused on early-stage investments outside Silicon Valley. The initial pitch to Epstein came circa November 2014 (EFTA02594707), suggesting he invest USD 10-20MM in Fund II. The pitch cited Xero (New Zealand) and TransferWise (UK) as early hits. Nicole Junkermann attended the December 3, 2014 pitch meeting at 9 E 71st with Andrew McCormack and James Fitzgerald (the two Valar Ventures managing partners). Junkermann flew to NY specifically for this meeting. Multiple schedule entries confirm the meeting across EFTA02351944, EFTA02390441, EFTA02403336, EFTA02596951, EFTA02597854, EFTA02599239.

COMPLETE VALAR INVESTMENT TIMELINE: (1) Nov 2014: Initial pitch via EFTA02594707 suggesting USD 10-20MM for Fund II, citing Xero and TransferWise as wins; (2) Dec 3, 2014: In-person pitch meeting at 9 E 71st with McCormack, Fitzgerald, and Nicole Junkermann; (3) Jan 2015: Fund II closed at USD 102M; (4) Aug 2015: McCormack updates on Fund II deal flow, Epstein requests call (EFTA02489953, EFTA02490229); (5) Nov 2015: McCormack asks to catch up on Valar (EFTA02480444, EFTA02373015); (6) 2016: McCormack asks Epstein to decide allocations for Fund III first closing — Epstein was 'thinking in a pretty broad range' (EFTA02485187); (7) June 20, 2016: Fund III final closing at USD 104M, Thiel committed USD 30M (EFTA02460935); (8) Oct 2016: Kahn flags political risk from Thiel's politics (EFTA02447091); (9) Nov 2017: Epstein lunch with Thiel (EFTA02230818); (10) Apr 4, 2017: USD 52.5M wire from Southern Trust to Valar Global Fund III (EFTA01387768); (11) May 2018: Valar 2018 Annual Report sent, Fund 4 initial investments material attached (EFTA02634238); (12) Nov 2017: 'Jeffrey is ready for your Valar call' (EFTA02229858); (13) Feb 14, 2019: Year-end balances — Fund II = USD 40.7M, Fund III = USD 49.69M = total USD 90.39M (EFTA02629770). Epstein's USD 90.39M across Valar funds means he was approximately 44% of Fund II (40.7M/102M) and 48% of Fund III (49.69M/104M) — making him by far the largest single LP in both funds, even exceeding Peter Thiel's own USD 30M commitment to Fund III.

Valar Global Fund III LP was a Delaware limited partnership (SEC CIK 1664457) formed 2016. Total capital commitments USD 104M with Peter Thiel committing USD 30M. 23 investors total (per Form D). GP is Valar Ventures GP III LLC. Fund address: 915 Broadway, Suite 1101, New York NY 10010. Managed by James Fitzgerald and Andrew McCormack. Valar Global Fund II had USD 102M at close (per EFTA02505986). Fund IV also existed (SEC CIK 1726616). Epstein received regular LP updates, 2018 Annual Report, and Fund 4 Initial Investments materials (EFTA02633233, EFTA02634108, EFTA02634238). Richard Kahn at HBRK Associates monitored Valar investments and flagged political risk — forwarded Bloomberg article about Thiel's politics becoming a 'deal killer in Silicon Valley' asking 'if article true will it impact our Valar investments' (EFTA02447091, Oct 2016).

Epstein's investment in Valar was massive — far exceeding the initially proposed 10-20MM. As of February 14, 2019 (5 months before arrest), Epstein held: Valar Global Fund II LP = USD 40.7M and Valar Global Fund III LP = USD 49.69M, for a combined total of USD 90.39M. This was routed through Southern Trust Company Inc at Deutsche Bank. Wire records confirm: (1) EFTA01387768: Southern Trust wired USD 52.5M to Valar Global Fund III on April 4, 2017 via DB, with Vahe Stepanian processing and Stewart Oldfield informed; (2) EFTA01285647: Outgoing wires from Southern Trust to Valar Global Fund II LP at Silicon Valley Bank — USD 600K on 7/24 and USD 1M on 7/28; (3) EFTA01299550: USD 2.5M wire from Southern Trust to Silicon Valley Bank for Valar Global Fund III LP.

Stash (now Stash Financial) was Valar Fund III's largest holding per James Fitzgerald (EFTA02618729). Richard Kahn at HBRK Associates forwarded this update to Epstein with Crunchbase and StashInvest links. Kahn also forwarded MarketWatch coverage of Stash's debit rewards launch (EFTA02632880) and asked Epstein 'should i try to open an account?' — suggesting personal interest beyond the LP position. Kahn also forwarded news of Valar's investment in Trading Ticket (EFTA02487966), a stock-trading startup backed by Valar Ventures and Citi Ventures. These communications demonstrate Kahn/HBRK actively monitored and communicated about Valar portfolio company performance.

Brad Karp (Paul Weiss chairman) was on the Xero board — Xero being one of Valar Ventures' two early success investments cited in the pitch to Epstein (EFTA02594707). Karp mentioned being on an 'interminable Xero board call' in EFTA02473480 while corresponding with Epstein. This creates a triangulated connection: Karp was simultaneously Epstein's primary legal fixer (1,038+ documents) AND a board member of one of Thiel/Valar's portfolio companies. This may have been an independent connection pathway for the Valar introduction, alongside or in addition to the Nicole Junkermann / Ian Osborne / SPIEF pathway.