Peter A. Thiel
German-born American investor; co-founder of PayPal and Palantir Technologies, partner at Founders Fund
| Peter A. Thiel
| |
|---|---|
| Born | 11 10 1967 (age 59 years old (as of 2026)
) (Forbes) Frankfurt, Germany |
| Occupation | Investor |
| Known for | Co-founder of PayPal and Palantir Technologies; partner at Founders Fund |
| Education | Stanford University (BA philosophy; JD) |
Peter Thiel (born 1967) is a German-born American investor. He co-founded the online payment company PayPal and the data-analytics company Palantir Technologies, which he has chaired since 2003. He has been a partner of the venture capital firm Founders Fund since 2005.[1] He made the first outside investment in Facebook and sat on its board from 2005 to 2022.[2][1] On 20 October 2026 the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Peter Thiel 60th in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$37.34 billion; Forbes lists the source of wealth as Facebook, investments.[3][4] In the annual World's Billionaires list published in 2026, Forbes had ranked Peter Thiel 87th, at US$28.4 billion.[5]
Early life and education
Forbes records that Thiel was born in Frankfurt on 11 October 1967.[3] Palantir's 2026 proxy statement says he holds a BA in philosophy from Stanford University and a JD from Stanford Law School.[1]
Business career
According to Palantir's 2026 proxy statement, Thiel co-founded PayPal and was its chief executive, president and chairman from 2000 until eBay bought it in 2002. He has been a partner of Founders Fund since 2005 and president of the investment firm Thiel Capital since 2011. He was a director of Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) from 2005 to 2022, and has also sat on the board of AbCellera Biologics.[1] Founders Fund says he made the first outside investment in Facebook.[2] Forbes says he has since sold most of that stake. It describes Founders Fund's investments as including Stripe and SpaceX, and says Thiel is involved in the firm's strategy and its large investments.[3]
Palantir
Palantir names Thiel, Alexander Karp and Stephen Cohen as its founders. Its 2026 proxy statement says he has chaired the board since 2003. The three founders hold all of the company's Class F shares in a voting trust, and are party to a voting agreement covering most of their Class A and Class B shares. At the 6 April 2026 record date, the proxy listed Thiel as beneficially owning 68,871,556 Class A shares (3.0%), 29,128,444 Class B shares (29.1%) and 335,000 Class F shares (33.3%), giving him 7.9% of the total voting power as tabulated there.[1] Forbes has described Palantir as a CIA-backed start-up.[3] Forbes profiles differ on how Palantir went public in 2020: one says through a SPAC, a later one says by direct listing.[3]
New Zealand citizenship
New Zealand's Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) released information about his citizenship under the Official Information Act. It says Thiel applied in January 2011 and was approved by ministerial decision on 30 June 2011, under Section 9(1)(c) of the Citizenship Act, which allows for exceptional circumstances. He took the oath at a private ceremony at the New Zealand Consulate in Santa Monica in August 2011.[6] RNZ reported in 2017, after the Ombudsman ordered the figure released, that he had spent 12 days in New Zealand before being granted citizenship. The normal requirement is more than 1,300 days over five years. RNZ also said he had never lived in the country and did not intend to, and noted that he had invested in the New Zealand firms Xero and Pacific Fibre, donated to the Christchurch earthquake relief fund and partnered with the government-funded New Zealand Venture Investment Fund.[7]
Gawker
In May 2016 Thiel confirmed that he had secretly funded, with about US$10 million, the wrestler Terry Bollea's (Hulk Hogan's) privacy lawsuit against Gawker Media. The suit concerned Gawker's publication of part of a sex tape. A Florida jury had awarded Bollea US$140 million. The Guardian noted that Gawker had published a story about Thiel's sexuality in 2007. It reported that Thiel told the New York Times the funding was "less about revenge and more about specific deterrence".[8]
Philanthropy
The Thiel Fellowship, which Thiel founded in 2011, is a two-year programme giving grants, now US$250,000, to young people who leave or skip college to build new things.[9] Forbes describes the grant as US$100,000 in its profile.[3]
Political activity
Forbes describes Thiel as one of the first prominent Silicon Valley supporters of Donald Trump in 2016. He was a Trump delegate in California and spoke at the Republican National Convention.[3] Forbes also says he moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles in early 2018, after calling Silicon Valley a "one-party state".[3] Federal Election Commission records show itemised contributions under his name with Founders Fund or Thiel Capital as employer. Most of the money went to two super PACs, Saving Arizona PAC and Protect Ohio Values PAC.[10]
Across the 18 non-memo records retrieved for the 2022–2026 cycles, the filtered total is US$37,448,000 (a lower bound). The largest recipient committees, as named in the filings, were SAVING ARIZONA PAC (US$20,000,000), PROTECT OHIO VALUES PAC (POV PAC) (US$15,000,000), CLUB FOR GROWTH ACTION (US$1,500,000), GROW THE MAJORITY (US$852,200), MCCARTHY VICTORY FUND (US$47,300).[10]
| Cycle | Total (US$, lower bound) | Records | Largest recipient committees (as filed with the FEC) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | $35,095,800 | 16 | SAVING ARIZONA PAC ($20,000,000); PROTECT OHIO VALUES PAC (POV PAC) ($15,000,000); MCCARTHY VICTORY FUND ($47,300); TED CRUZ VICTORY COMMITTEE ($10,800) |
| 2026 | $2,352,200 | 2 | CLUB FOR GROWTH ACTION ($1,500,000); GROW THE MAJORITY ($852,200) |
Residence
Forbes's current profile gives his residence as Buenos Aires, Argentina.[3]
Wealth
Forbes gives Facebook and investments as the sources of his wealth.[3]
Wealth history
Forbes has included this entry in its annual World's Billionaires list in 18 of the editions from 2001 to 2026 checked for this profile, starting with 2008. The table gives the rank and estimated net worth in each annual list, and, where applicable, the rank and estimate in the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans.[5][3]
| Year | World's Billionaires rank | Net worth (US$ bn) | Forbes 400 rank | Forbes 400 net worth (US$ bn) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 962 | 1.2 | 377 | 1.3 |
| 2010 | 828 | 1.2 | 365 | 1.1 |
| 2011 | 833 | 1.5 | 293 | 1.5 |
| 2012 | 854 | 1.5 | 328 | 1.4 |
| 2013 | 931 | 1.6 | 314 | 1.8 |
| 2014 | 796 | 2.2 | 284 | 2.2 |
| 2015 | 847 | 2.2 | 234 | 2.8 |
| 2016 | 638 | 2.7 | 246 | 2.7 |
| 2017 | 745 | 2.7 | 315 | 2.6 |
| 2018 | 965 | 2.5 | 328 | 2.5 |
| 2019 | 916 | 2.5 | 363 | 2.3 |
| 2020 | 908 | 2.3 | 391 | 2.1 |
| 2021 | 574 | 4.9 | 273 | 4.1 |
| 2022 | 552 | 5.0 | 252 | 4.2 |
| 2023 | 659 | 4.2 | 180 | 5.9 |
| 2024 | 354 | 7.5 | 116 | 9.2 |
| 2025 | 131 | 16.3 | 40 | 23.9 |
| 2026 | 87 | 28.4 | 28 | 35.4 |
International and political links
This section uses the same ten headings for every profile in this series. Only specific, sourced actions are included; company-level and foundation-level actions are labelled as such. Where nothing was found, the entry reads "No documented involvement found in sources checked."
Israel (investments, operations, donations, contracts, statements)
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Zionist or pro-Israel organisations and lobbying groups
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Jewish communal charities
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Gulf states
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
China
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Russia
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
India
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Palestinian or Arab causes
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Home government
He chairs Palantir, which Forbes describes as CIA-backed. For his political donations see Political activity.[1][3][10]
Other international links
He was granted New Zealand citizenship in 2011.[6][7] Forbes gives his residence as Buenos Aires, Argentina.[3]
Earlier Powerbase text (retained)
Peter A. Thiel is a technology entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist.[11]
Thiel co-founded PayPal in 1998, and was its chief executive from 2000 until it was sold to eBay in 2002. He then founded the global macro fund Clarium. In 2004 he co-founded Palantir Technologies; Palantir's 2026 proxy statement says he has chaired its board since 2003. In the same year he made the first outside investment in Facebook.[11][1][2]
External resources
- Steven Thrasher, Conservative Facebook Investor Funded Anti-ACORN Videographer, villagevoice.com, 22 September 2009 (archived copy, 14 October 2013).
- Mark Ames, Ron Paul Wants to Abolish the CIA; His Largest Donor Builds Toys for It, The Nation, 23 February 2012 (archived copy, 23 June 2015).
- Leah Nelson, PayPal Founder Peter Thiel Continues to Tout Anti-Government Manifesto, Intelligence Report, Summer 2012, Issue Number: 146, Southern Poverty Law Center (archived copy, 9 April 2015).
See also
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Palantir Technologies Inc., Definitive proxy statement (Schedule 14A) for the 2026 annual meeting US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 24 April 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Founders Fund, Team Founders Fund, accessed 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 Forbes, Forbes profile record for Peter Thiel (Forbes data feed behind forbes.com/profile/peter-thiel/) Forbes, live record, read 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Forbes, Forbes Real-Time Billionaires data feed Forbes, live; downloaded 20 October 2026 11:51 UTC, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Forbes, Forbes World's Billionaires list data feed, annual editions 2001–2026 (one file per year at this path with the year substituted; all 26 files downloaded and read) Forbes, annual lists; downloaded 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), Citizenship of Mr Peter Thiel (updated 25 January 2018) Department of Internal Affairs, updated 25 January 2018, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 RNZ, US billionaire spent 12 days in NZ before citizenship RNZ, 29 June 2017, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Alex Hern, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel admits to bankrolling Hulk Hogan's Gawker lawsuit The Guardian, 26 May 2016, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Thiel Fellowship, Thiel Fellowship (home page) Thiel Fellowship, accessed 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 U.S. Federal Election Commission, OpenFEC Schedule A (itemised individual contributions) query, contributor name "THIEL, PETER"; 2026 cycle shown in link, the 2022, 2024 and 2026 cycles were queried together with the same parameters; top 100 records by amount; compiler filtered records by employer/occupation and name and excluded memo entries U.S. Federal Election Commission, data as filed; queried 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Thiel Foundation, About Peter Thiel Thiel Foundation (archived copy at the Internet Archive; original URL no longer live), snapshot of 24 April 2013, accessed 21 October 2026.