Madison Prewett partners with Upward
3 years ago
United States Peter Thiel is an entrepreneur, investor, and venture capitalist, recognized for co-founding PayPal and Palantir Technologies, as well as being the first outside investor in Facebook.
He co-founded Valar Ventures in 2010, an internationally focused venture firm.
He co-founded Mithril Capital in 2012, serving as investment committee chair.
He was a part-time partner at Y Combinator from 2015 to 2017.
He co-founded PayPal, led it as CEO, and took it public.
He co-founded Founders Fund, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm.
He made the first outside investment in Facebook.
He was a founder of data analysis firm Palantir.
He created Clarium Capital, a global macro hedge fund.
Founded by Peter Thiel in 2011, the Thiel Fellowship is a two-year program for young people who want to build new things.
Peter Andreas Thiel was born on October 11, 1967, in Frankfurt am Main, West Germany. His family moved to the United States when he was one, and after spending a period in South Africa and South West Africa, they settled in Foster City, California, in 1977. Thiel excelled academically, becoming valedictorian of his high school class in 1985. He studied philosophy at Stanford University and co-founded The Stanford Review, a conservative and libertarian newspaper. After earning his Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School in 1992, he worked briefly as a law clerk and a securities lawyer before becoming a derivatives trader at Credit Suisse and a speechwriter for William Bennett. Returning to California in 1996, he entered the venture capital sector, raising $1 million for Thiel Capital Management.
In 1998, Thiel co-founded Fieldlink, later renamed Confinity, which developed PayPal, an online payment system aimed at creating a digital wallet for consumer convenience and security. He served as CEO until PayPal’s acquisition by eBay for $1.5 billion in 2002. With his proceeds, Thiel launched Clarium Capital Management, a global macro hedge fund, in 2002. In 2003, he founded Palantir Technologies, a big data analysis company, becoming its chairman. He made a significant impact in 2004 by investing $500,000 as an angel investor in Facebook, acquiring a 10.2% stake and joining its board. This marked the first external investment in the social media giant.
Thiel continued to expand his investment portfolio, co-founding Founders Fund in 2005, which has invested in companies like Airbnb, SpaceX, and Spotify. He also co-founded Valar Ventures in 2010 and Mithril Capital in 2012, further solidifying his role in the venture capital landscape. From 2015 to 2017, he served as a part-time partner at Y Combinator. Thiel is also known for his philanthropic endeavors through the Thiel Foundation, supporting initiatives like the Thiel Fellowship, which encourages young individuals to pursue innovative projects instead of traditional college education.
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