Peter Andreas Thiel (b. 1967) is a German-American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and author who co-founded the online payments company PayPal and the data-analytics firm Palantir Technologies. He became widely known as the first major outside investor in Facebook and as a leading figure in Silicon Valley's technology-investment community.[1]
Early life and education
Thiel was born on 11 October 1967 in Frankfurt, West Germany, and moved with his family to the United States as a child.[1] A highly rated junior chess player, he studied philosophy at Stanford University, where he co-founded the campus newspaper The Stanford Review, before earning a law degree from Stanford Law School.[2] After graduating he briefly practised law and worked as a derivatives trader before turning to entrepreneurship.
PayPal and the "PayPal Mafia"
In 1998 Thiel co-founded the company that became PayPal and served as its chief executive.[1] Under his leadership the business grew into one of the most widely used online payment platforms, and in 2002 it was acquired by the auction site eBay. Many of PayPal's early founders and employees — a group later nicknamed the "PayPal Mafia" — went on to establish other prominent technology companies.[2]
Investments and Palantir
In 2004 Thiel made an early outside investment in Facebook and joined its board of directors.[1] The same year he co-founded Palantir Technologies, a firm specializing in large-scale data analysis. He also founded the venture-capital firm Founders Fund and the hedge fund Clarium Capital, backing numerous start-ups across the technology sector.[3] These activities made him one of the most influential investors of his generation.[4]
Writing, philanthropy and recognition
In 2014 Thiel published Zero to One, a widely read book on start-ups and innovation drawn from lectures he gave at Stanford.[2] Through the Thiel Fellowship, launched in 2010, he began offering grants to young people to pursue entrepreneurial and scientific projects instead of, or alongside, formal study. For his work in technology and public debate he has received the Axel Springer Award and the Frank Schirrmacher Award.[1]
