Peter Thiel, Facebook’s first ever angel investor and inventor of PayPal, announced he will be stepping down from the board of Meta to help President Trump.
The most powerful conservative in Silicon Valley is setting aside his business interests after 17 years to focus on pushing Trump’s legislative agenda. His current efforts are focused specifically on getting candidates Blake Masters and J.D. Vance elected to the US Senate.
Last year alone Thiel gave $10 million each to two separate Super PACS supporting his two preferred candidates.
Theil is especially close to Masters, who co-wrote the book “Zero to One” in 2014. The book challenged the ideas of globalism and its ability to slow technological innovation.
Vance, on the other hand, is also an author of the bestselling book Hillbilly Elegy, his memoirs about growing up in working-class Ohio. Vance had previously butted heads with Trump after calling him America’s Hitler.
Thiel gave $1.5 million to support then-candidate Trump during the 2016 election. He also took Vance to meet Trump at the Mar-A-Lago resort, where Trump allegedly gave the author a ‘good-natured ribbing.’ Following the meeting, Trump endorsed Vance’s run for Senate over his other MAGA opponents.
Vance and Masters are not the only targets in Thiel’s political sights. He has also been seen meeting with Governor Ron DeSantis, who has been tipped as a potential Presidential or Vice Presidential candidate for 2024.
Thiel, who is currently worth $2.6 billion, invested $500,000 for 10% of Facebook and a board seat back in 2004.
On his way out from Meta, Thiel praised his former partner Mark Zuckerberg “It has been a privilege to work with one of the great entrepreneurs of our time. Mark Zuckerberg’s intelligence, energy, and conscientiousness are tremendous. His talents will serve Meta well as he leads the company into a new era.”
Zuckerberg also praised Theil for his service on the board and for providing “unique suggestions” to problems facing the company.
Peter Thiel is one of several new billionaires currently making big investments in the Republican party. Do you think he will end up being one of the most powerful people in Conservative politics? Will he ever run?
