Tech mogul Palmer Luckey trolls hated rival Jason – Business News
Tech mogul Palmer Luckey has reignited a long-running feud with rival Jason Calcanis after newly launched emails from the Jeffrey Epstein recordsdata confirmed ties between Calacanis and the late intercourse offender.
Documents launched by the feds final week show that Calacanis, among the many first tech buyers to buy into Uber, casually emailed Epstein in 2011 — three years after his 2008 conviction for soliciting an underage prostitute — offering to attach Epstein with early Bitcoin builders Gavin Andresen and Amir Taaki.
Angel investor and podcaster Jason Calacanis (pictured) turned one of Palmer Luckey’s loudest critics during the 2016 election fallout and later clashed with him publicly on the All-In Summit. Bloomberg through Getty Images
Calacanis addressed Epstein casually as “hey pal,” stated he was “running out to a kids birthday party,” and promised to “dig up their info” — later resulting in Epstein contacting Andresen instantly.
Previously, Calacanis had stated his solely contact with Epstein occurred within the Nineteen Nineties. He wrote on X final week: “I probably spoke to Epstein for a total of 30 minutes in my entire life.”
Luckey replied to Calacanis: “I don’t believe you.”
Luckey, who was fired from Facebook in 2017 after Calacanis criticized him for donating money to President Trump’s marketing campaign, ripped into Calcanis on X final week:
“Man starts VR company, donates to Trump: ‘Total moron, no moral compass!’” Luckey wrote. “Man rapes children: ‘hey pal!’”
After Epstein’s arrest in July 2019, Calacanis stated he met Epstein as soon as within the Nineteen Nineties whereas making an attempt to raise money for his dot-com magazine, Silicon Alley Reporter.
According to Calacanis, the assembly happened at Epstein’s New York townhouse and lasted about half-hour.
He stated Epstein provided temporary advice — telling him to “think bigger” — and that the interplay went no additional. “He gave me some advice at his townhouse once when I was raising money for the magazine,” Calacanis instructed Financial Advisor.
Palmer Luckey (above), the Oculus founder turned defense-tech billionaire, has blamed the backlash over his 2016 pro-Trump donation — and critics like Jason Calacanis — for costing him his job at Facebook. FilmMagic
.@Jason stated 10+ instances that he solely knew Epstein within the 90s. He was really serving to Epstein via the 2000s and 2010s, even after the kid intercourse trafficking conviction.Man begins VR company, donates to Trump: “Total moron, no moral compass!”Man rapes kids: “hey pal!” pic.twitter.com/RTgG56dw0l— Palmer Luckey (@PalmerLuckey) January 31, 2026
Calacanis has repeatedly denied any deeper involvement, saying he by no means flew on Epstein’s airplane, by no means visited Epstein’s non-public island, Little St. James and by no means attended events linked to the financier.
The Post has sought remark from Luckey and Calacanis.
The decade-old feud flared up final yr when Calacanis accused Luckey’s camp on X of sharing a “photoshopped photo of me being twice as fat as I ever was,” calling it a deliberate attempt to smear him.
Luckey responded that the picture was “a screenshot from his CNBC interview,” not a manipulated image.
This is an un-edited screenshot out of your CNBC interview, Jason. Is this one other instance of your well-known mendacity sprees, or are are you severely this out of contact with the fact of your physique? pic.twitter.com/acCGOEViv9— Palmer Luckey (@PalmerLuckey) February 28, 2025
In August 2022, Calacanis tried to clean issues over as Luckey’s protection firm Anduril started touchdown authorities contracts.
“I’m grateful we have Palmer making our weapons now — we need hard-core dudes like him to keep the CCP in check,” Calacanis wrote, including flexed arm and coronary heart emojis.
Luckey responded with fury, rejecting the outreach and unloading years of resentment in a blistering, profanity-laced reply.
Disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, who died in federal custody in 2019, resurfaced in newly launched DOJ recordsdata detailing his contacts with figures throughout tech and finance. AP
“Go f—k yourself and all the other clout-chasing leeches and liars who pretend sucking my d—k post-Ukraine absolves treating me like s—t for years,” he wrote.
The conflict facilities on Calacanis’ blistering public assaults on Luckey during the 2016 election cycle and Luckey’s declare that the backlash price him his job at Facebook.
Luckey was revealed to have donated $10,000 to Nimble America, a pro-Trump political group recognized for online trolling and anti–Hillary Clinton memes.
I met Epstein a handful of instances on the TED convention and in nyc within the 90s/early 2000s. This is his tackle e-book and never the flight logs. His tackle e-book has been public for a decade—however Palmer and his crew are tweeting it at this time to insinuate that that is breaking information. I… https://t.co/9soga10Cud— @jason (@Jason) February 28, 2025
The donation triggered an quick backlash inside Silicon Valley, the place Luckey — then the public face of Facebook-owned Oculus — confronted boycott calls and inside strain because the controversy unfold throughout tech media.
Calacanis emerged as one of Luckey’s most aggressive critics, publicly attacking him on podcasts and social media and arguing that a tech govt had no business partaking in partisan political trolling.
The fallout intensified over the next months, culminating in Luckey’s firing from Facebook in March 2017.
