Peter Thiel

Peter Thiel was born in Germany in 1967 and moved to Cleveland, United States during his childhood. He emerged as one of the most prominent figures in Silicon Valley's technology sector through his entrepreneurial ventures and investment acumen. Thiel co-founded PayPal alongside Elon Musk, establishing himself as a key player in online payments technology. When eBay acquired PayPal in 2002 for $1.5 billion, Thiel made $55 million from the transaction. In 2004, he founded Palantir Technologies, a firm specializing in big-data analysis that contracts extensively with the U.S. government. Thiel's investment portfolio includes becoming Facebook's first outside investor in 2004. Beyond individual investments, Thiel established the Founders Fund, a venture capital firm that has backed numerous successful startups. He also heads Clarium Capital, a hedge fund focused on macroeconomic investments. Through the Thiel Foundation, he governs Breakout Labs and the Thiel Fellowship, which provides grants and mentorship to young entrepreneurs.