Peter Thiel

Co-founder of PayPal and Palantir Technologies and partner at Founders Fund^{Source [1]}^{Source [2]}

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Unclaimed profileLast verified Oct 2, 2026

About

Peter Thiel is an entrepreneur and investor. He co-founded PayPal in 1998, served as its CEO, President and Chairman from 2000 until eBay acquired it in 2002, and co-founded Palantir Technologies, where he has been Chairman of the board since 2003.^{Source [1]}^{Source [2]}^{Source [3]}

After law school at Stanford he worked as a securities lawyer at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York and then as a derivatives trader at Credit Suisse before returning to California in 1996 to start an investment firm, Thiel Capital. That firm led to his first company, Confinity, which he co-founded with Max Levchin and which merged with X.com in 2000 to become PayPal.^{Source [4]}^{Source [5]}^{Source [3]}

After PayPal he set up the global macro hedge fund Clarium Capital Management in 2002. In 2004 he made the first outside investment in Facebook, and he served on its board from 2005 to 2022. In 2005 he launched the venture firm Founders Fund with Ken Howery and Luke Nosek, and in 2012 he co-founded Mithril Capital with Ajay Royan.^{Source [4]}^{Source [2]}^{Source [1]}^{Source [6]}^{Source [7]}

Today he is a partner at Founders Fund, president of the investment firm Thiel Capital and Chairman of Palantir. He started the Thiel Fellowship, which gives young people $250,000 grants to build companies instead of attending college, and leads the Thiel Foundation.^{Source [1]}^{Source [2]}^{Source [8]}^{Source [9]}

He is the author, with Blake Masters, of Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future (2014), and co-wrote The Diversity Myth (1995) with David Sacks.^{Source [10]}^{Source [11]}^{Source [2]}

Watch

How Peter Thiel Knows If A Startup Is Crazy Smart, Or Just Crazy | Disrupt SF 2014 by TechCrunch on YouTube

Career

Confinity

1998 to 2000

PayPal

2000 to 2002

Clarium Capital Management

2002

Palantir Technologies

2003 to now

Founders Fund

2005 to now

Meta

2005 to 2022

Mithril Capital Management

2012

Company	Years	Role	Status
Mithril Capital Management Co-founded the growth-stage investment firm with Ajay Royan, a former managing director at Clarium, in 2012.^{Source [7]}^{Source [12]} Co-founded the firm with Ajay Royan, who had been a macro and growth equity investor at Clarium.^{Source [7]}^{Source [14]} Anchors its funds: the firm describes itself as a family of investments backed by committed capital anchored by Thiel.^{Source [15]} Suggest a correction to Mithril Capital Management	2012	Co-founder^{Source [7]}^{Source [12]}^{Source [13]}	Active
Founders Fund Launched Founders Fund with Ken Howery and Luke Nosek in 2005 and has been a partner since.^{Source [4]}^{Source [1]} Partner since the firm's 2005 launch; the firm has funded companies including SpaceX and Airbnb.^{Source [1]}^{Source [2]} Named with Napoleon Ta and Trae Stephens as a director on the April 2025 filing for the $4.6 billion Founders Fund Growth III.^{Source [18]} Contributed capital, with other partners and employees, to the $6 billion growth fund closed in May 2026.^{Source [19]} Suggest a correction to Founders Fund	2005 to now	Co-founder^{Source [4]}^{Source [16]}Partner^{Source [1]}^{Source [17]}^{Source [2]}	Active
Meta Served on the board of Facebook, later Meta Platforms, from 2005. He told the company on February 5, 2022 that he would not stand for re-election at its 2022 annual meeting.^{Source [17]}^{Source [6]}^{Source [1]} Made the first outside investment in Facebook in 2004, a $500,000 check.^{Source [2]}^{Source [5]} Served as a director from 2005 until the 2022 annual meeting.^{Source [1]}^{Source [6]} Suggest a correction to Meta	2005 to 2022	Board member^{Source [1]}^{Source [17]}^{Source [6]}	IPO
Palantir Technologies One of Palantir's three founders named in its filings, with Stephen Cohen and Alexander Karp, and chairman of its board since 2003.^{Source [1]}^{Source [20]} Chairman of the board since 2003.^{Source [1]} One of the three Founders, with Alexander Karp and Stephen Cohen, who established the Founder Voting Trust that holds the company's Class F shares.^{Source [1]} Chairman through the company's September 2020 public listing and its November 2024 move to Nasdaq.^{Source [20]}^{Source [21]} Suggest a correction to Palantir Technologies	2003 to now	Co-founder^{Source [1]}^{Source [20]}Chairman of the board^{Source [1]}	IPO
Clarium Capital Management Established the global macro hedge fund in 2002 and signed its 2010 SEC holdings reports as President.^{Source [4]}^{Source [23]} Ran the global macro fund, which Forbes reported held as much as $6 billion in mid-2008.^{Source [4]}^{Source [5]} Forbes reported losses of 4.5% in 2008, 25% in 2009 and 23% in 2010, with assets down to $460 million by January 2011.^{Source [5]} Suggest a correction to Clarium Capital Management	2002	Founder^{Source [4]}^{Source [22]}President^{Source [23]}	Status unknown
PayPal Joined the board at the March 2000 merger of Confinity and X.com, became chairman in May 2000 and CEO in September 2000, and served until eBay acquired PayPal in 2002.^{Source [3]}^{Source [1]} Served as CEO, President and Chairman from 2000 until eBay acquired PayPal in 2002.^{Source [1]}^{Source [3]} Took the company public in 2002.^{Source [24]}^{Source [2]} Suggest a correction to PayPal	2000 to 2002	Chief Executive Officer and President^{Source [3]}^{Source [1]}Chairman of the board^{Source [3]}^{Source [1]}	IPO
Confinity Co-founded Confinity in December 1998 and was its CEO and chairman until it merged with X.com in March 2000.^{Source [3]} Co-founded the company with Max Levchin in December 1998 and served as CEO and Chairman.^{Source [3]} Led it into the March 2000 merger with X.com.^{Source [3]} Suggest a correction to Confinity	1998 to 2000	Co-founder^{Source [3]}^{Source [25]}Chief Executive Officer and Chairman^{Source [3]}	Merged

Milestones

2026-05Founders Fund closed a $6 billion growth fund, its largest; Thiel was among the partners who contributed capital.^{Source [19]}
2025-04Named as one of three directors on the SEC filing for Founders Fund Growth III, a $4.6 billion late-stage fund.^{Source [18]}
2024-11Palantir, where he is Chairman, moved its stock listing from the NYSE to Nasdaq.^{Source [21]}
2022-02Told Meta Platforms he would not stand for re-election to its board after 17 years as a director.^{Source [6]}^{Source [1]}
2020-09Palantir Class A common stock began public trading on September 30, 2020.^{Source [20]}
2014-09Published Zero to One, written with Blake Masters.^{Source [10]}
2012Co-founded the venture firm Mithril Capital with Ajay Royan.^{Source [7]}^{Source [12]}
2011Founded the Thiel Fellowship and became president of Thiel Capital.^{Source [8]}^{Source [1]}
2005Launched Founders Fund with Ken Howery and Luke Nosek and joined the Facebook board.^{Source [4]}^{Source [1]}
2004Made the first outside investment in Facebook, a $500,000 check.^{Source [2]}^{Source [5]}
2003Co-founded Palantir Technologies and became Chairman of its board.^{Source [1]}^{Source [20]}
2002Took PayPal public, then led it until eBay acquired the company; founded Clarium Capital Management the same year.^{Source [24]}^{Source [1]}^{Source [4]}
2000-03Confinity merged with X.com; he became PayPal's Chairman in May and CEO in September 2000.^{Source [3]}
1998-12Co-founded Confinity, the company that developed PayPal, with Max Levchin.^{Source [3]}^{Source [4]}
1996Returned to California from New York and started Thiel Capital with about $1 million from friends and family.^{Source [4]}^{Source [5]}

Boards, investments and other roles

Organization	Role	Years
Thiel CapitalInvestor	President^{Source [1]}	2011 to now
AbCellera BiologicsBoard	Board member^{Source [1]}	2020 to 2024
Thiel FellowshipNonprofit	Founder^{Source [8]}	2011
Thiel FoundationNonprofit	Founder^{Source [9]}^{Source [2]}
Valar VenturesInvestor	Backer^{Source [4]}	2010
The Stanford ReviewMedia	Co-founder^{Source [4]}^{Source [5]}	1987

Education

Stanford Law School, J.D. 1992^{Source [1]}^{Source [4]}^{Source [5]}
Stanford University, B.A., Philosophy 1989^{Source [1]}^{Source [4]}

Books

Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future 2014, Co-author^{Source [10]}^{Source [2]}
The Diversity Myth: Multiculturalism and the Politics of Intolerance at Stanford 1995, Co-author^{Source [11]}^{Source [4]}

Links

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Sources

Palantir Technologies Inc. 2026 Proxy Statement (DEF 14A), SEC EDGAR, 2026-04-24. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Peter Thiel, Founders Fund. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
PayPal, Inc. Registration Statement (Form S-1/A), SEC EDGAR, 2002-02-14. Accessed Sep 28, 2026.
Peter Thiel, Immigrant Entrepreneurship (German Historical Institute), 2018-08-22. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Life After Facebook (reprinted from Forbes), Stanford Law School, 2011-01-26. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Meta Platforms, Inc. Form 8-K: Peter Thiel will not stand for re-election, SEC EDGAR, 2022-02-10. Accessed Sep 28, 2026.
Mithril Capital, Mithril Capital Management. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Thiel Fellowship, The Thiel Foundation. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Thiel Foundation, The Thiel Foundation. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Zero to One by Peter Thiel, Blake Masters, Penguin Random House, 2014-09-16. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
The Diversity Myth: Multiculturalism and the Politics of Intolerance at Stanford, ERIC (US Department of Education), 1995. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Mithril Capital Management, cofounded by Ajay Royan and Peter Thiel, is leaving the Bay Area, TechCrunch, 2018-09-21. Accessed Sep 28, 2026.
Mithril Capital, Wikipedia. Accessed Sep 28, 2026.
Ajay Royan, Mithril Capital Management. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Discover our approach, Mithril Capital Management. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Founders Fund, Wikipedia. Accessed Sep 28, 2026.
Facebook, Inc. 2021 Proxy Statement (DEF 14A), SEC EDGAR, 2021-04-09. Accessed Sep 28, 2026.
Peter Thiel's Founders Fund closes $4.6 billion growth fund, CNBC, 2025-04-11. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
The venture fund that spent $4.6 billion in a year just raised $6 billion more, The Next Web, 2026-05-01. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Palantir Technologies Inc. Annual Report (Form 10-K) for fiscal year 2025, SEC EDGAR, 2026-02-17. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Palantir Technologies Inc. Form 8-K: transfer of stock exchange listing to Nasdaq, SEC EDGAR, 2024-11-14. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Clarium Capital, Wikipedia. Accessed Sep 28, 2026.
Clarium Capital Management, LLC Form 13F-HR for quarter ended September 30, 2010, SEC EDGAR, 2010-11-12. Accessed Sep 28, 2026.
Peter Thiel, Mithril Capital Management. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Confinity, Wikipedia. Accessed Sep 28, 2026.

History

Oct 2, 2026: Enriched profile: about, education, other roles, books, milestones, links and stint highlights (Founded editors)
Sep 28, 2026: Profile created from public sources (Founded editors)

Compiled by Founded editors from the cited public sources. Editorial policy / Request removal