What do Paul Pelosi, Jimmy Buffett, Conan O\u2019Brien, and Eric Schmidt have in common? They were all members of the ultra-secretive, men-only Bohemian Grove society as recently as 2023.<\/p>\n
We know this because independent journalist Daniel Boguslaw obtained the Bohemian Grove camp membership list for that year and published it Wednesday on Substack (opens in new tab)<\/a>. In doing so, Boguslaw joins the rarified ranks of reporters who have succeeded in shedding light on the world\u2019s most secretive redwood grove. Reached for comment, one club member confirmed it is a real membership list from 2023.<\/p>\n Since the 1980s, journalists have been trying to get inside the Bohemian Grove campground in Monte Rio in Sonoma County by posing as waiters, lost hikers, and guests. San Francisco-based magazine Mother Jones was the first to succeed, publishing an inside scoop (opens in new tab)<\/a> in 1981 that described the club as the place where \u201cmen who make decisions that affect us all gather quietly.\u201d Alex Jones famously managed to film a ceremony at the grove that fueled conspiracy theories for decades. Vanity Fair reporter Alex Shoumatoff was arrested (opens in new tab)<\/a> after posing as a member in 2008. And in 2018, Outside magazine reporter Chris Colin was threatened by Bohemian Grove security (opens in new tab)<\/a> simply for kayaking up to the high water line of the compound\u2019s beach along the Russian River.<\/p>\n Boguslaw didn\u2019t pull any of those tricks. He obtained the list in 2024 by pestering a San Francisco club member.<\/p>\n \u201cI went to this person\u2019s office for a week straight,\u201d Boguslaw said. He had driven to the Bay Area from Massachusetts after getting his hands on a 2017 attendance list, he said, and stayed in a Tenderloin single-room-occupancy hotel while he hounded the local member.<\/p>\n Weeks passed, and he found longer-term lodging in West Oakland. One night, while he was drinking at Eli\u2019s Mile High Club, a courier appeared with two manila envelopes.<\/p>\n Inside was the 2023 camp membership list. This does not necessarily represent the full membership to the club, which meets at a building in San Francisco. Bohemian Club spokesperson Sam Singer said the club is private and does not publish its list of members or guests.<\/p>\n Boguslaw\u2019s story was supposed to run in The Intercept, but the outlet got cold feet, he said. The Intercept did not respond to a request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey spiked it in this really stupid way,\u201d he said. \u201cThey were so freaked out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n This, too, has a long tradition. In 1991, People magazine reportedly killed (opens in new tab)<\/a> a story about Bohemian Grove by San Francisco bureau chief Dirk Mathison, who had hiked into the secretive compound. He was recognized by an executive from Time Warner, the magazine\u2019s parent company, who promptly axed his story.<\/p>\n Boguslaw isn\u2019t worried about blowback. \u201cI\u2019m confident in my reporting, and I\u2019d like to see them try to fuck with me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The 2023 camp membership list contains around 2,200 people, many of whom are not well known. As far as celebrities go, you\u2019ve got Florida man Jimmy Buffett, documentarian Ken Burns, and the actor Jim Belushi. Henry Kissinger, to absolutely no one\u2019s surprise, was a member. Then there are the famously rich people: Mike Bloomberg and Charles Koch, in particular.<\/p>\n But most members are rich people you\u2019ve never heard of, politicians you\u2019ve maybe seen on CSPAN, and a smattering of scientists and cultural figures thrown in to make good on the \u201cBohemian\u201d part of the group\u2019s name. Perhaps unsurprising for a boys club filled with powerful American elites, the most common first names to appear are John (128 times), Robert (115), William (85), James (84), and David (75).\u00a0<\/p>\n Here, we highlight the Bohemian Grove members with the strongest San Francisco ties, broken down by industry. There are notably fewer tech industry people than one might have expected. This is a list of old money and power. The names are divided into \u201ccamps,\u201d which a source tells us are like fraternities; people in the same camp party together during visits to the compound.\u00a0<\/p>\n We reached out to some of these people for comment; none responded. It\u2019s against the rules of the club to discuss members, their guests or any club-related activities with the press. But if you\u2019re on this list and want to share your thoughts on this leak, please get in touch.<\/p>\n Politics<\/p>\n Carlos Bea (Tarry Town), judge at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, based in San Francisco.<\/p>\n Paul Pelosi (Stowaway), venture capitalist and husband of Rep. Nancy Pelosi; longtime San Francisco resident and businessman.<\/p>\n Bobby Inman (Hillside), retired four-star admiral and former NSA director; significant ties to the Bay Area defense and intelligence community.<\/p>\n Edwin Meese III (Cave Man), U.S. attorney general under Reagan; fellow at Stanford\u2019s Hoover Institution.<\/p>\n Sam Singer (Interlude), president of PR and crisis communications firm Singer Associates; has represented clients including Garry Tan, Chevron, BART, and, we learned today, the Bohemian Club.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tech<\/p>\n Eric Schmidt (Aviary), former Google CEO and executive chairman of Alphabet; CEO of aerospace manufacturing company Relativity Space. Among the richest people in the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n Brook H. Byers (Hill Billies), senior partner at Kleiner Perkins; early Silicon Valley investor in biotech companies and longtime Stanford University benefactor.<\/p>\n Business and Finance<\/p>\n Riley and Gary Bechtel (Mandalay and Care Less), billionaire heirs to the Bechtel fortune who party in different camps while at the Grove, apparently.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tim and William Draper (Hill Billies and Hualapai), father-and-son investors, who also party in different camps in El Rio.<\/p>\n Robert, John, and William Fisher (Hill Billies, Midway, Owl\u2019s Nest), brothers whose parents, Doris and Donald, founded Gap Inc. in San Francisco in 1969. They also party separately at camp.<\/p>\n Richard Kovacevich (Mandalay), former CEO and chairman of Wells Fargo & Company, headquartered in San Francisco.<\/p>\n Charles Johnson (Mandalay), \u00a0cofounder and former chairman of Franklin Templeton Investments, headquartered in San Mateo.<\/p>\n Rupert Johnson Jr. (Owl\u2019s Nest), vice chairman of Franklin Templeton Investments, based in San Mateo.<\/p>\n