The New York Times reported on Wednesday that in 2015 and 2016, not long before his death, Epstein invested a substantial sum into a company that Thiel had co-founded. Valar Ventures, a venture capital firm that (like many of Thiel’s other companies) is named after a creature from J.R.R. Tolkein’s mythos, received $40 million from Epstein, according to the report.

The sum that Epstein invested is now reportedly worth close to $170 million, based on a confidential financial analysis from Epstein’s estate and a statement from a Valar spokesman viewed by the New York Times. Epstein’s estate is benefiting from the investment, the Times report states.

Note: Why is this in Politics? Because Thiel is some of the money behind most of the insane Republican policies.