This is the thinnest case of any tech figure in this archive, and the page is short because the record is short. One dinner he did not organise, no evidence of any contact afterwards, no flight log entry, no survivor allegation, and no direct correspondence between the two men in any released document. A widely shared image appearing to show them together is AI-generated and is not in the DOJ files.
Most pages in this archive document what someone did with Epstein. This one documents what Epstein did with someone.
The dinner was Hoffman’s, at Baumé in Palo Alto on 2 August 2015, honouring the MIT neuroscientist Ed Boyden. Epstein did not organise it, and its existence has been publicly known since 2019.
What he did with it afterwards is the part worth reading. He emailed himself the photograph the next morning. He used the guest list as social proof with Tom Pritzker weeks later. He wrote about Zuckerberg’s private life to other people.
That is step seven of the method this archive documents — trade the access onward — executed on a single evening’s attendance. The relationship did not need to exist. The photograph and the name were the asset.
There is exactly one line that complicates Meta’s account, and it deserves stating precisely.
Epstein’s assistant Lesley Groff wrote to Zuckerberg’s chief of staff that “at the party Mark requested Jeffrey send his contact details to him.” The reply was “Noted, with thanks.”
That is Epstein’s office characterising what happened, not Zuckerberg’s account of it. A request made in passing is still made in passing, and the two statements are not necessarily inconsistent. But it is the one sentence Meta’s phrase has to absorb, and the record ends there — with an acknowledgement from a chief of staff and nothing after it.
What the page will not do is inflate that into a relationship. Two people at a nine-person table, an assistant exchanging contact details, and a man boasting about the evening to a third party is what it is. The absence of anything further is a finding, and it belongs at the same volume as the rest.
Meta: “Mark met Epstein in passing one time at a dinner honoring scientists that was not organized by Epstein. Mark did not communicate with Epstein again following the dinner.”
Epstein’s assistant, 2015: “At the party Mark requested Jeffrey send his contact details to him… could you please pass the below on to Mark?”
NBC News, reviewing the documents: there is no evidence the two men spoke after the dinner.
Section 01
The Record
A private party at Baumé in Palo Alto, the restaurant closed for the evening. Hosted by Reid Hoffman in honour of MIT neuroscientist Ed Boyden. Among those present: Epstein, Zuckerberg, Musk, Thiel and Hoffman. It was not organised by Epstein, and its existence has been public since a 2019 Vanity Fair report.
Epstein sends himself a photograph of the table. Nine people are visible, including Zuckerberg and Musk. Epstein is not in the frame — he may have been holding the camera. There is no indication in the image that he spoke to either man.
Hoffman emails Epstein and Zuckerberg with the subject line “intros”: “Jeffrey, Zuck, email connections from the Ed Boyden dinner — so that convo can continue.”
Epstein’s assistant Lesley Groff writes to Zuckerberg’s chief of staff Andrea Besmehn: “Jeffrey Epstein attended Reid Hoffman/Peter Thiel’s dinner party this past Sunday night at Baume Restaurant. At the party Mark requested Jeffrey send his contact details to him… could you please pass the below on to Mark?” Besmehn replies: “Noted, with thanks.”
Asked about his availability by Tom Pritzker, Epstein replies: “not sure yet. i had dinner with zuckerburg, mu=k, thiel hoffman, wild.” He is using the evening as social currency, eighteen days after it happened.
Epstein writes to others about Zuckerberg’s marriage to Priscilla Chan — “Can’t believe it and so sad, I could be instead of her” — and jokes that Zuckerberg deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for the “arabic revolutions.” These are Epstein’s remarks, in Epstein’s correspondence, to third parties. Nothing suggests Zuckerberg saw or knew of them.
“Mark met Epstein in passing one time at a dinner honoring scientists that was not organized by Epstein. Mark did not communicate with Epstein again following the dinner.” NBC News, reviewing the documents: there is no evidence the two men spoke after the dinner.
A viral image appearing to show Epstein together with Zuckerberg circulates widely. It is AI-generated and is not part of the authentic DOJ photo set. The second documented fabrication involving a tech figure in this release.
Section 02
Four Tiers
The same structure applied to Trump, Musk and Brin. Here the second tier is by far the largest, and the fourth is mostly unanswerable.
Attendance at one dinner he did not organise, honouring a neuroscientist. A photograph Epstein sent himself. An assistant-level exchange in which Epstein’s office states that Zuckerberg asked for his contact details. Epstein’s own remarks about him, made to other people.
No evidence of any contact after the dinner, and NBC’s review of the documents found none. He is in no flight log, no survivor has named him, no authority has alleged anything, and he never corresponded with Epstein directly in any released document. Thiel’s partnership ran to 2019; Hoffman’s meetings continued to 2018. Zuckerberg’s documented contact is a single evening.
Meta says he met Epstein “in passing.” Epstein’s assistant wrote that “Mark requested Jeffrey send his contact details to him.” Those are not necessarily inconsistent — a request made in passing is still made in passing — and the claim is Groff’s characterisation, in Epstein’s office’s words, not Zuckerberg’s. But it is the one line the phrase has to absorb.
Whether Zuckerberg actually asked for the details, or Groff inferred it. Whether Hoffman’s “intros” email was ever answered. Whether the contact details were passed on at all. The record ends with “Noted, with thanks.”
Section 03
What the Table Was For
The dinner matters more as an event than as evidence about any individual guest.
In August 2015 Epstein was seven years past a guilty plea for soliciting a minor and was a registered sex offender. He was nevertheless seated at a private dinner in Palo Alto with the founders of Facebook, Tesla, LinkedIn and Palantir, honouring an MIT scientist.
Nobody had to approve that. There was no step at which any host, guest or institution was required to check who was on the list — which is step six of the method, and the reason the other six work.
And the guests’ later accounts diverge sharply, which is itself informative. Hoffman apologised in 2019 and said that by participating in fundraising where Epstein was present he had “helped to repair his reputation and perpetuate injustice.” Musk called him “obviously a creep.” Meta said “in passing.” Thiel’s dealings continued for four more years.
Four men at one table, four different relationships to the same evening. The archive’s position is that they should not be flattened into one, and this page exists partly to keep Zuckerberg from being read at Thiel’s volume.
The fabricated image is the other reason for care. A viral picture appearing to show Epstein with Zuckerberg is AI-generated and absent from the DOJ set — the second such fake involving a tech figure in this release. Once forgeries circulate, the genuine photograph becomes arguable too.
Section 04
Open Questions
Section 05
Sources
The Assistants’ Exchange
Feb 2026. The Groff–Besmehn emails in full, Meta’s statement, and the finding of no subsequent contact.
nbcnews.com →The “Wild” Email
Feb 2026. The message to Tom Pritzker, and Epstein’s remarks about Priscilla Chan and the Arab Spring.
thedailybeast.com →The Photograph
Feb 2026. The image Epstein emailed himself on 3 August 2015, and what it does and does not show.
forbes.com →The AI-Generated Image
2026. Establishing that the viral picture of Epstein with Zuckerberg is fabricated and absent from the DOJ set.
factually.co →Lesley Groff
The operational hub — never charged, and the last person who can explain how it worked.
Read the profile →Reid Hoffman
The host — and the most complete apology anyone in this archive has given.
Read the profile →Peter Thiel
Also at the table — and still dealing with Epstein four years later.
Read the profile →Reading the Files
Why fabricated documents now travel alongside real ones.
Read the report →