Peter Thiel is an American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and political activist known for co-founding PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund. He was also the first outside investor in Facebook. As of March 2025, his net worth is estimated at $16.2 billion, ranking him among the wealthiest individuals globally.
On October 1967, Peter Thiel was born in Frankfurt am Main, West Germany.
In 1977, the Thiel family settled in Foster City, California, after living in South Africa and South West Africa (Namibia).
In 1985, Peter Thiel was valedictorian of his graduating class at San Mateo High School.
In 1987, Peter Thiel co-founded The Stanford Review, a conservative and libertarian newspaper, at Stanford University.
In 1989, Peter Thiel graduated from Stanford University and maintained his relationship with The Stanford Review thereafter.
In 1992, Peter Thiel earned his juris doctor degree from Stanford Law School.
In 1993, Peter Thiel worked as a derivatives trader in currency options at Credit Suisse while also working as a speechwriter for William Bennett.
In 1995, Peter Thiel and David O. Sacks published "The Diversity Myth," a book criticizing political correctness and multiculturalism in higher education.
In 1995, Peter Thiel co-authored "The Diversity Myth: Multiculturalism and the Politics of Intolerance at Stanford" with David O. Sacks, criticizing political correctness and multiculturalism in higher education.
In 1996, Peter Thiel founded Thiel Capital Management.
Peter Thiel referenced the 1997 Asian financial crisis, highlighting the potential of PayPal to provide citizens with direct control over their currencies.
In 1998, Max Levchin described his cryptography company idea to Peter Thiel, which became their first venture called Fieldlink, later renamed Confinity.
In 1998, Peter Thiel co-founded PayPal with Max Levchin and Luke Nosek.
Peter Thiel referenced the 1998 Russian financial crisis, highlighting the potential of PayPal to provide citizens with direct control over their currencies.
In 1999, Confinity launched PayPal to provide a secure digital wallet for online payments.
In 1999, PayPal launched at a press conference, receiving $3 million in venture funding from Nokia and Deutsche Bank via PayPal on their PalmPilots.
In 1999, Peter Thiel invested $1,700 in 1.7 million founder's shares of PayPal using a Roth IRA, a move that would later lead to substantial financial gains.
In 1999, Peter Thiel spoke about PayPal's mission to liberate people from the erosion of currency value due to inflation.
In 2000, PayPal merged with Elon Musk's X.com and Pixo, expanding into the wireless phone market and improving user experience.
On February 15, 2002, PayPal went public.
In 2002, eBay acquired PayPal for $1.5 billion, and Peter Thiel remained CEO until the sale.
In May 2003, Peter Thiel incorporated Palantir Technologies, named after the Tolkien artifact.
In 2003 Peter Thiel participated for the last time in a chess competition, although he stills holds the title of Life Master.
In 2003, Peter Thiel launched Palantir Technologies, a big data analysis company, and has been its chairman since its inception.
In 2003, Peter Thiel successfully predicted that the United States dollar would weaken.
In August 2004, Peter Thiel became Facebook's first outside investor, acquiring a 10.2% stake for $500,000.
In 2004, Peter Thiel invested $500,000 in Facebook after being introduced by Reid Hoffman and meeting with Mark Zuckerberg. The investment was in the form of a convertible note, which Thiel allowed to be converted to equity even when Facebook narrowly missed the target of reaching 1.5 million users by the end of 2004.
In 2004, Peter Thiel spoke of the dot-com bubble migrating into the financial sector, specifying General Electric and Walmart as vulnerable.
In 2004, Peter Thiel wrote "The Straussian Moment", an essay considered a fundamental text in his political thinking, arguing for a reexamination of modern politics after the September 11 attacks.
In 2005, Clarium Capital saw a 57.1% return as Peter Thiel predicted that the dollar would rally.
In 2005, Peter Thiel created Founders Fund, a San Francisco-based venture capital fund, with partners including Sean Parker, Ken Howery, and Luke Nosek.
In September 2006, Peter Thiel announced a $3.5 million donation to the Methuselah Mouse Prize foundation to promote anti-aging research, citing the potential for improved health and longevity.
In 2006, Clarium Capital faltered with a 7.8% loss.
In 2006, Peter Thiel provided $100,000 in matching funds to support the Singularity Challenge donation drive of the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence, now known as the Machine Intelligence Research Institute. The organization promotes friendly artificial intelligence development.
In December 2007, Peter Thiel endorsed Ron Paul for President in the 2008 United States presidential election.
In 2007, Clarium Capital achieved a 40.3% return, growing assets under management.
In 2007, Gawker published an article publicly outing Peter Thiel, headlined "Peter Thiel is totally gay, people."
In 2007, Peter Thiel helped time Facebook's Series D funding round, which closed before the 2008 financial crisis.
In 2007, Thiel provided half of the $400,000 matching funds for the Singularity Institute's donation drive, furthering his support for artificial intelligence research.
On 15 April 2008, Peter Thiel pledged $500,000 to the newly created non-profit Seasteading Institute, aimed at establishing autonomous ocean communities to foster social and political innovation.
Beginning in 2008, Peter Thiel has donated over $1 million to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), supporting the rights of journalists to report freely.
In 2007, Peter Thiel helped time Facebook's Series D funding round, which closed before the 2008 financial crisis.
In 2008, Clarium Capital's assets under management fell after financial markets collapsed.
In 2008, after Ron Paul failed to secure the Republican nomination, Peter Thiel contributed to the John McCain campaign.
At the 2009 Singularity Summit, Peter Thiel expressed his concern that the technological singularity was not arriving quickly enough, highlighting his interest in accelerating technological advancement.
In 2009, Clarium Capital's assets under management fell again after financial markets collapsed.
In 2009, it was reported that Peter Thiel helped fund college student James O'Keefe's "Taxpayers Clearing House" video, a satirical look at the Wall Street bailout.
In a 2009 essay, Peter Thiel expressed he "no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible" and focused on technologies like cyberspace, space colonization, and seasteading to create new spaces for freedom.
In September 2010, Peter Thiel expressed skepticism about the growth potential in the consumer Internet sector. He argued that Facebook, with a secondary market valuation of $30 billion at the time, was undervalued compared to other Internet companies.
On 29 September 2010, Peter Thiel established the Thiel Fellowship, which annually awards $100,000 to 20 individuals under 23 years old to encourage them to forgo college and pursue their entrepreneurial ventures.
In 2010, Peter Thiel co-founded Valar Ventures.
In 2010, Peter Thiel invited conservative columnist Ann Coulter to Homocon as a guest speaker.
In 2010, Peter Thiel supported Republican Meg Whitman in her unsuccessful bid for the governorship of California, contributing the maximum allowable $25,900 to her campaign.
In August 2011, Peter Thiel received New Zealand citizenship in a private ceremony, despite not meeting the typical residency requirements, raising questions about the criteria for citizenship.
In November 2011, the Thiel Foundation announced the creation of Breakout Labs, a grant-making program offering up to $350,000 to science-focused start-ups outside traditional academic or corporate settings.
As of 2011, Peter Thiel described his religious beliefs as "somewhat heterodox," affirming his belief in Christianity without feeling a strong need to proselytize. Thiel also participated in Veritas Forum events discussing religion, politics, and technology with N. T. Wright.
By 2011, after missing out on the economic rebound, many key investors pulled out of Clarium Capital, reducing its assets.
In 2011, Ann Coulter dedicated her book, "Demonic: How the Liberal Mob Is Endangering America", to Peter Thiel.
In 2011, Peter Thiel donated $1.25 million to the Seasteading Institute but resigned from its board the same year, marking a shift in his involvement with the organization.
In 2011, Peter Thiel donated NZ$1 million to an appeal fund supporting the casualties of the Christchurch earthquake, demonstrating his philanthropic support.
In 2011, Peter Thiel supported the Human Rights Foundation, was a featured speaker at the Oslo Freedom Forum, and the Thiel Foundation was a main sponsor of the event, furthering his involvement in human rights advocacy.
In 2011, Peter Thiel was controversially granted New Zealand citizenship after the Fifth National Government intervened on his behalf, despite spending only 12 non-consecutive days in the country.
In 2011, Peter Thiel's New Zealand citizenship application cited his economic contributions, including founding a venture capital fund and investing $7 million in local companies, as well as a $1 million donation to the Christchurch earthquake appeal fund.
In January 2012, Peter Thiel, along with Nosek and Scott Banister, supported the Endorse Liberty Super PAC, collectively giving $3.9 million to promote Ron Paul's campaign. The Super PAC spent $3.3 million on Youtube Channels, buying ads from Google, Facebook and StumbleUpon.
In April 2012, Breakout Labs announced its initial set of grantees, awarding a total of $4.5 million to 12 startups, including 3Scan, a tissue imaging platform.
In May 2012, during Facebook's initial public offering with a market cap of nearly $100 billion ($38 a share), Peter Thiel sold 16.8 million shares for $638 million.
In June 2012, Peter Thiel launched Mithril Capital Management, named after the fictitious metal in The Lord of the Rings, with Jim O'Neill and Ajay Royan. Mithril Capital, a fund with $402 million at launch, targets companies beyond the startup stage, ready to scale up.
In July 2012, Peter Thiel made a $1 million donation to the Club for Growth, a fiscally conservative 501(c)(4) organization, becoming the group's largest contributor.
In August 2012, immediately after the early investor lock-up period concluded, Peter Thiel sold almost all of his remaining Facebook stake for between $19.27 and $20.69 per share, totaling $395.8 million, bringing his total earnings to over $1 billion. He kept his seat on the board of directors.
In 2012, Peter Thiel donated $10,000 to Minnesotans United for All Families to fight Minnesota Amendment 1, which proposed to ban marriage between same-sex couples.
In 2012, Peter Thiel sold the majority of his shares in Facebook for over $1 billion and co-founded Mithril Capital, serving as investment committee chair.
In spring 2012, Peter Thiel taught the class CS 183: Startup at Stanford University, sharing his insights on building successful companies.
As of 2013, the Thiel Foundation had donated over $1 million to the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, demonstrating Thiel's ongoing financial commitment to artificial intelligence research.
In September 2014, the book "Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future" by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters was released, based on notes from Thiel's Stanford course.
At the Venture Alpha West 2014 conference, Peter Thiel stated his desire to make progress in anti-aging research. Thiel also mentioned that he is registered for cryonic preservation with the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, in hopes of future revival.
In early 2014, DeepMind, a UK start-up backed by Peter Thiel, was acquired by Google for £400 million.
In March 2015, Peter Thiel joined Y Combinator as one of 10 part-time partners.
In December 2015, it was announced that Peter Thiel was one of the financial backers of OpenAI, a nonprofit company focused on the safe development of artificial general intelligence.
By 2015, Palantir was valued at $20 billion, with Peter Thiel being the company's largest shareholder.
From 2015 to 2017, Peter Thiel was a part-time partner at Y Combinator.
In 2015, Peter Thiel purchased a 193-hectare estate near Wānaka, New Zealand, classified as "sensitive land", without requiring permission due to his citizenship.
In a 2015 conversation with Tyler Cowen, Peter Thiel claimed that innovative breakthroughs were happening in computing and IT, not the physical world, and cited regulation as a cause.
In May 2016, Peter Thiel confirmed that he had paid $10 million in legal expenses to finance lawsuits against Gawker Media, including a lawsuit by Terry Bollea (Hulk Hogan).
In August 2016, Gawker announced it was permanently closing due to the $140 million jury award in the lawsuit financed by Peter Thiel brought by Terry Bollea (Hulk Hogan).
On 15 August 2016, Peter Thiel published an opinion piece in The New York Times, arguing that his defense of online privacy extended beyond Gawker and included support for the Intimate Privacy Protection Act, asserting the right of athletes and executives to remain in the closet.
On 15 October 2016, Peter Thiel announced a $1.25 million donation in support of Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.
On 30 November 2016, Peter Thiel made the ceremonial first move in the first tiebreak game of the World Chess Championship 2016 between Sergey Karjakin and Magnus Carlsen, recognizing his connection to the game.
In 2016, Peter Thiel apologized for insensitive statements made in "The Diversity Myth", specifically regarding rape crisis movements and multicultural rape charges, expressing regret for the passages.
In 2016, Peter 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 and led to founder Nick Denton's bankruptcy.
In 2016, Peter Thiel sold a little under 1 million of his Facebook shares for around $100 million.
As of February 2017, Peter Thiel had donated over $7 million to the Methuselah Mouse Prize foundation, underscoring his dedication to anti-aging research.
In November 2017, Peter Thiel sold another 160,805 Facebook shares for $29 million, leaving him with 59,913 Class A shares.
In November 2017, it was reported that Y Combinator had severed its ties with Peter Thiel.
In 2017, Founders Fund bought about $15–20 million worth of bitcoin.
In 2017, Peter Thiel was one of the first outside investors in Clearview AI, a facial recognition technology startup that has raised concerns in the tech world and media for its risks of weaponization.
In 2017, Peter Thiel's New Zealand citizenship, obtained in 2011, became public, leading to scrutiny of the circumstances surrounding its acquisition and the potential influence of his connections.
In a 2017 interview with The New York Times, Peter Thiel deemed seasteads "not quite feasible from an engineering perspective" and "still very far in the future", tempering his previous enthusiasm for the concept.
Peter Thiel's time as a part-time partner at Y Combinator ended in 2017.
In January 2018, Founders Fund informed investors that due to the surge in cryptocurrency value, their bitcoin holdings were worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
In July 2018, Peter Thiel donated $250,000 to the Trump Victory Committee in support of the Republican National Committee during the 2018 midterm elections and Trump's 2020 re-election campaign.
As of 2019, Peter Thiel's initial $1,700 investment in PayPal shares through a Roth IRA had grown to over $5 billion, largely due to reinvestments in companies like Palantir and Facebook.
In 2019, Peter Thiel's 2004 essay "The Straussian Moment" was the subject of an interview at the Hoover Institution.
As of April 2020, Peter Thiel owned less than 10,000 shares in Facebook.
By February 2022, Peter Thiel was one of the largest donors to Republican candidates in the 2022 election campaign and several of the candidates that he supported were proponents of the falsehood that there was significant voter fraud in the 2020 election.
In 2020, Peter Thiel's political-action committee, Free Forever, supported Kris Kobach's failed Senate bid and received almost all of its contributions from Thiel himself.
In July 2018, Peter Thiel donated $250,000 to the Trump Victory Committee in support of Trump's 2020 re-election campaign.
In 2021, Business Insider reported that Peter Thiel became an FBI informant.
In 2021, ProPublica revealed that Peter Thiel had purchased 1.7 million founder's shares in PayPal using $1,700 in a Roth IRA in 1999, growing to over $5 billion by 2019. Since Thiel paid taxes on his initial deposit, he can withdraw the balance tax-free after age 59½.
By February 2022, Peter Thiel was one of the largest donors to Republican candidates in the 2022 election campaign, with more than $20.4 million in contributions. He supported 16 senatorial and congressional candidates.
On 7 February 2022, Peter Thiel announced he would not seek re-election to the board of Facebook owner Meta at the 2022 annual stockholders' meeting. He planned to leave after 17 years to support pro-Donald Trump candidates in the 2022 United States elections.
As of 2022, Peter Thiel continues to be the chairman of Palantir Technologies.
In 2022, Peter Thiel endorsed and donated over $10 million to Blake Masters' campaign in the United States Senate election in Arizona, supporting his former student's political aspirations.
In 2022, Peter Thiel stepped down from the board of directors of Facebook.
In March 2023, Jeff Thomas, who was in a long-term relationship with Peter Thiel from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, passed away suddenly.
In 2023, Barton Gellman of The Atlantic wrote that Peter Thiel "has lost interest in democracy" and that "he wouldn’t be giving money to any politician, including Donald Trump, in the next presidential campaign". According to Reuters this occurred after he disagreed with the Republican party's focus on cultural issues.
In February 2025 Scott Benson stated that Peter, a vampire final boss of the action adventure minigame DemonTower in Night in the Woods was named after Peter Thiel.
As of March 2025, Forbes estimated Peter Thiel's net worth to be US$16.2 billion, ranking him as the 129th richest person globally.
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