American entrepreneur and venture capitalist (born 1967)
Peter Thiel
Thiel in 2022
Born Peter Andreas Thiel
(1967-10-11 ) 11 October 1967 (age 56) Citizenship
United States
New Zealand
Education Stanford University (BA , JD )Title Political party Republican Spouse
Peter Andreas Thiel (; born 11 October 1967) is an American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and political activist.[1] [2] [3] A co-founder of PayPal , Palantir Technologies , and Founders Fund , he was the first outside investor in Facebook .[4] [5] As of June 2023[update] , Thiel had an estimated net worth of $9.7 billion and was ranked 213th on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index .[6]
He worked as a securities lawyer at Sullivan & Cromwell , as a speechwriter for former U.S. Secretary of Education William Bennett and as a derivatives trader at Credit Suisse . He founded Thiel Capital Management in 1996. He co-founded PayPal with Max Levchin and Luke Nosek in 1998, serving as chief executive officer until its sale to eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion.
After PayPal, he founded Clarium Capital , a global macro hedge fund based in San Francisco.[7] In 2003, he launched Palantir Technologies , a big data analysis company, serving as its chairman since its inception. In 2005, he launched Founders Fund with PayPal partners Ken Howery and Luke Nosek . Earlier, Thiel became Facebook's first outside investor when he acquired a 10.2% stake for $500,000 in August 2004. He sold the majority of his shares in Facebook for over $1 billion in 2012 but remains on the board of directors.[8] After the Fifth National Government intervened on his behalf, Thiel was controversially granted New Zealand citizenship in 2011 after spending 12 days in the country non-consecutively. He co-founded Valar Ventures in 2010; co-founded Mithril Capital, serving as investment committee chair, in 2012; and served as a part-time partner at Y Combinator from 2015 to 2017.[9] [10] [11] [12]
Through the Thiel Foundation , Thiel governs the grant-making bodies Breakout Labs and Thiel Fellowship , and funds non-profit research into artificial intelligence , life extension , and seasteading . In 2016, Thiel confirmed that he had funded Hulk Hogan in the Bollea v. Gawker lawsuit because Gawker had previously outed Thiel as gay. The lawsuit eventually bankrupted Gawker[13] and led to founder Nick Denton declaring bankruptcy.[14] Thiel is a conservative libertarian who has made substantial donations to American right-wing figures and causes.
^ Wiener, Anna (27 October 2021). "What Is It About Peter Thiel?" . The New Yorker . Archived from the original on 25 December 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2022 .
^ Heffernan, Virginia (21 September 2021). "The Alarming Rise of Peter Thiel, Tech Mogul and Political Provocateur" . The New York Times . ISSN 0362-4331 . Archived from the original on 6 February 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2022 .
^ Purdy, Jedediah (30 November 2016). "The Anti-Democratic Worldview of Steve Bannon and Peter Thiel" . Politico Magazine . Archived from the original on 6 February 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2022 .
^ Ciralsky, Adam (20 September 2017). "Is Trump Mulling Peter Thiel for a Top Intelligence Advisory Post?" . Vanity Fair . Archived from the original on 18 September 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2020 .
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^ "Bloomberg Billionaires Index: Peter Thiel" . Bloomberg . Archived from the original on 31 December 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2023 .
^ Mann, Jyoti. "Peter Thiel paid staff an extra $1,000 a month if they lived close to the office so they were more likely to work late, book says" . Business Insider . Archived from the original on 14 February 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024 .
^ Feiner, Lauren (17 December 2019). "Peter Thiel reportedly pushed Facebook not to vet fake political ads" . CNBC. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2020 .
^ "Y Combinator Cuts Ties With Peter Thiel After Ending Part-Time Partner Program" . BuzzFeed News . 17 November 2017. Archived from the original on 14 August 2021. Retrieved 14 August 2021 .
^ "The PayPal Mafia: Who are they and where are Silicon Valley's richest group of men now?" . The Daily Telegraph . Archived from the original on 22 September 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014 .
^ Waters, Richard (20 December 2013). "Lunch with the FT: Peter Thiel" . Financial Times . Archived from the original on 15 November 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2016 .
^ Hook, Leslie (11 November 2016). "Tech elite discovers it may need Peter Thiel" . Financial Times . Archived from the original on 15 November 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2016 .
^ Drange, Matt. "Peter Thiel's War On Gawker: A Timeline" . Forbes . Archived from the original on 3 January 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2021 .
^ Sterne, Peter (1 August 2016). "Gawker founder Nick Denton files for bankruptcy" . Politico . Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2022 .