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An Australian soldier taught Andrew Tate’s inner circle to ‘recruit’ billionaires. He’s now turned his back on the manosphere

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Cite

Groch, S. (2026, October 3). An Australian soldier taught Andrew Tate’s inner circle to ‘recruit’ billionaires. He’s now turned his back on the manosphere. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/national/an-australian-soldier-taught-andrew-tate-s-inner-circle-to-recruit-billionaires-he-s-now-turned-his-back-on-the-manosphere-20261004-p60yrp.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Sydney Morning Herald · collected 2026-10-03 · by Sherryn Groch

Quick Summary

Joule Sullivan, a former Australian soldier who once advised Andrew Tate on exploiting vulnerabilities of billionaires for personal gain, has distanced himself from Tate and the manosphere amid growing allegations of sex trafficking and abuse against Tate. Sullivan reveals he taught secret courses to Tate’s inner circle using intelligence tactics but now questions the legitimacy of these practices after seeking therapy for his issues with women. The article highlights the extent of Tate’s influence over wealthy figures, including President Trump’s associates, and details how his online university continues to operate despite legal troubles in multiple countries.
Written by AI on 2026-10-03, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Joule Sullivan, a former Australian soldier and close associate of Andrew Tate, has distanced himself from Tate and his controversial online community known as the "manosphere." Sullivan taught secret courses within Tate's inner circle, instructing them on methods to exploit vulnerabilities of billionaires for financial gain. Recently leaked material from Tate’s “university” revealed that Sullivan also trained participants in gathering private information about wealthy individuals using tactics similar to those employed by intelligence agencies and private investigators.

After participating in therapy and addressing personal issues related to women, Sullivan expressed doubts about the credibility of Tate's practices. He now acknowledges concerns over allegations of sex trafficking, abuse, and rape involving both Andrew and his brother Tristan Tate. These accusations are being investigated in multiple countries, including charges involving minors, which have prompted Sullivan to question his former allegiance to Tate.

The growing scale and severity of these allegations have disturbed Sullivan, leading him to denounce the manosphere's toxic masculinity and its lack of constructive solutions for interpersonal issues.

Written for “Andrew Tate Investigation” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Andrew Tate Investigation
Crime & Law · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
79
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
8%
6 of 79 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
61/100
The Sydney Morning Herald's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-03 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Sydney Morning Herald · 5607 article(s) · 15 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 15 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Sherryn Groch
7 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 I couldn’t commend her more highly.
🔮 He remains in custody and police say he will be interviewed on Tuesday.
2026-10-19 · assertive framing · Suspect in Helen Haines attack named
🔮 “It had all the credibility of a Melbourne weather forecast,” said Ryan, after the hearing.
🔮 Joule Sullivan, who became one of Tate’s closest friends and advisers, told this masthead he had now turned his back on Tate and the so-called “manosphere”, having grown concerned “there might be something” to the charges of sex trafficking, abuse and rape Tate and his brother Tristan are now fighting in multiple countries.
🔮 “What will eventually bring in finality to the whole Jewish question, that remains in the hands of Christ and perfectly under the control of God.”
🔮 How thick could you get?
Also by Sherryn Groch
Suspect in Helen Haines attack named
2026-10-19 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 7 articles by Sherryn Groch →

Topics

America Australian British Miami Tate

Subjects

Tate PERSON · 17× Sullivan PERSON · 6× Cooper PERSON · 3× Tates ORG · 3× Australia GPE · 2× Australian NORP · 2× British NORP · 2× Andrew Tate’s PERSON · 1× Joule Sullivan PERSON · 1× Tristan PERSON · 1×

Narrative

Secret courses recently leaked from inside Tate’s online “university” reveal that paying disciples of the British-American former kickboxer were taught not only how to manipulate women into sex work for financial gain, as previously uncovered, but also how to dig into the private lives of the elite for “leverage” in business too – using the tactics of intelligence agencies and private investigators.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-03
🔮 Joule Sullivan, who became one of Tate’s closest friends and advisers, told this masthead he had now turned his back on Tate and the so-called “manosphere”, having grown concerned “there might be something” to the charges of sex trafficking, abuse and rape Tate and his brother Tristan are now fighting in multiple countries.

Claims (79 extracted, 6 hedged)

A former Australian soldier who once taught secret courses to Andrew Tate’s inner circle on “exploiting” the vulnerabilities of billionaires to get ahead has become the first of Tate’s trusted “generals” to speak against his misogyny. asserted
who → teach → misogyny
Joule Sullivan, who became one of Tate’s closest friends and advisers, told this masthead he had now turned his back on Tate and the so-called “manosphere”, having grown concerned “there might be something” to the charges of sex trafficking, abuse and rape Tate and his brother Tristan are now fighting in multiple countries. uncertain
Tate → become → countries
“There are no answers in the ‘red pill’ and the manosphere,” Sullivan said. asserted
Sullivan → be → pill
“It’s just a bunch of grown men complaining. asserted
It → ’ → men
I bought into Tate’s message. asserted
I → buy → message
But I went to therapy and got help for my issues with women. asserted
I → go → women
“I have to believe innocent until proven guilty, it’s hard to reconcile these charges [against Tate] with the good friend … and polite man I knew, but the scale of the allegations now, especially involving minors, are disturbing.” asserted
scale → have → minors
Secret courses recently leaked from inside Tate’s online “university” reveal that paying disciples of the British-American former kickboxer were taught not only how to manipulate women into sex work for financial gain, as previously uncovered, but also how to dig into the private lives of the elite for “leverage” in business too – using the tactics of intelligence agencies and private investigators. asserted
disciples → leak → agencies
Video lessons, obtained by this masthead, teach men how to dig up the vulnerabilities of multi-millionaire “targets”, and encourage them into “taboo, hedonistic” activities by supplying women, as well as discussing the benefits of tax evasion and insider trading. asserted
lessons → obtain → evasion
Tate and his inner circle of War Room generals have cultivated close relationships with US President Donald Trump’s sons and advisers and other wealthy figures in America. asserted
Tate → cultivate → America
As the Tates sit in detention in Miami fighting an extradition request from British prosecutors, their War Room network and university “The Real World” continue to run, charging subscribers thousands of dollars a year for access to Tate’s “secrets to getting rich”. asserted
network → sit → secrets
Data leaks show many of their students are teen boys, including from Australia. asserted
many → show → Australia
And this masthead can reveal at least three Australians were key generals and “professors” inside Tate’s operation. asserted
Australians → reveal → operation
They include the former Australian Defence Force soldier-turned-security specialist Sullivan, who taught the “penetrating the elite” and “operator” classes to Tate subscribers, adapting covert intelligence skills for networking, personal security and financial gain. asserted
who → include → networking
He denies they were “blackmail courses”. asserted
they → deny → ?
It’s just a bunch of grown men complaining. asserted
It → ’ → men
There is also a self-described “economic astrologist” who runs one of a suite of cryptocurrency courses inside Tate’s university, which have since been linked to “pump and dump” scams where investors lost money. asserted
investors → be → money
Another wealthy Australian in Tate’s inner circle is ex-porn star Stirling Cooper, who teaches courses on how to sexually dominate women and has also been revealed by this masthead as a senior figure in Australia’s main neo-Nazi group. asserted
who → teach → group
For many years, Cooper and Sullivan were two of Tate’s staunchest defenders, frequently pictured with the Tate brothers smoking cigars on private jets and partying on yachts. asserted
brothers → picture → yachts
Inside Tate’s exclusive War Room, leaked chatlogs previously published by the BBC and obtained by this masthead suggest Cooper and Sullivan both took part in discussions about grooming women into online sex work in order to make money and disciplining those who stepped out of line. asserted
who → leak → line
Neither man has been charged as part of investigations into Tate’s alleged trafficking operation. asserted
man → charge → operation
The Tates deny any wrongdoing. asserted
Tates → deny → wrongdoing
Cooper did not respond to requests for comment and continues to defend the brothers online, but Sullivan told this masthead he has since drifted apart from the Tates over the past two years, as the allegations mounted against them. asserted
allegations → respond → them
He denies pimping out women himself, questioning the authenticity of the leaked chats. asserted
He → deny → chats
“Look, some of that was five years ago, maybe I wrote things, maybe I didn’t, it could have been doctored,” Sullivan said. uncertain
Sullivan → look → things
The key thing, he said, was “I’ve never made a single cent off any of that [pimping] stuff. asserted
I → say → stuff
There were those who thought that was cool, and those who thought that was a liability.” asserted
that → be → ?
Sullivan claims he “never saw anything illegal” and the women doing online sex work for the Tates “all seemed healthy” and content, but he concedes “those charges [against the Tates] are dark”. uncertain
charges → claim → Tates
He said he was also upset to see “young men essentially being poisoned in their view of women” by Tate’s brand of toxic masculinity, which tells men to “take the red pill”, referencing sci-thriller The Matrix, in order to understand “the real world” where men must fight back against feminism. asserted
men → say → feminism
“These red pill guys, they don’t have healthy relationships themselves so who are they to teach you?” Sullivan said. asserted
Sullivan → have → you
“Men should protect the wellbeing of women.” asserted
Men → protect → women
But seven years ago, he admits he “completely bought into” Tate’s message, having trained the Tate brothers in weapons and defensive tactics in Ukraine while working in private security. asserted
he → admit → security
“I was jaded from a messy divorce and I still had childhood issues to deal with,” he said. asserted
he → jade → issues
Sullivan quickly became a leader in the War Room, which he still defends as a place of mentorship and brotherhood. asserted
he → become → mentorship
His video lessons on “penetrating the elite to get paid” were available only to a small group of War Room members and leaders. asserted
elite → penetrate → members
In them, Sullivan often appears on camera from various exotic locales – by an infinity pool in the Maldives in one seminar, “at the best resort” on the shores of Lake Como, Italy, in another. asserted
Sullivan → appear → another
He tells students that women are often the wealthy’s “biggest vulnerability” and “the main currency in this environment” – and so a key opportunity for leverage over the elite lies in supplying them. asserted
opportunity → tell → them
“Ultra-high net worth will have hookers and mistresses or sugar babies, they’ll always have mistresses, typically they’re always paid,” he says in one video. asserted
he → have → video
But “hotels often have issues [with] privacy”. asserted
hotels → have → privacy
“If you’ve got a big house, let them know that they can bring their chicks over to your house and f--- them … asserted
they → get → them
…and 39 more, not listed.
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