Lord of the Roths: How Tech Mogul Peter Thiel Turned a Retirement Account for the Middle Class Into a $5 Billion Tax-Free Piggy Bank

Section:

---
URL: https://www.propublica.org/article/lord-of-the-roths-how-tech-mogul-peter-thiel-turned-a-retirement-account-for-the-middle-class-into-a-5-billion-dollar-tax-free-piggy-bank
type: webpage
title: 'Lord of the Roths: How Tech Mogul Peter Thiel Turned a Retirement Account
  for the Middle Class Into a $5 Billion Tax-Free Piggy Bank'
author:
  - given: Justin
    family: Elliot
  - given: James
    family: Bandler
  - given: Patricia
    family: Callahan
abstract: Roth IRAs were intended to help average working Americans save, but IRS
  records show Thiel and other ultrawealthy investors have used them to amass vast
  untaxed fortunes.
language: en
title-short: Lord of the Roths
container-title: ProPublica
---

is an investigative report by ProPublica into taxation of the ultraweathy in the United States, based on Internal Revenue Service data on the tax returns of thousands of the nation’s wealthiest people.  It focuses on how ultraweathy individuals can use a loophole in the laws regarding Roth Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) to amass massive amounts of wealth without paying taxes. It was written by Justin Elliott, Patricia Callahan and James Bandler, and was published on June 24th, 2021.

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