Tech

Peter Thiel

Emigrated from Germany as an infant; co-founded PayPal and Palantir, and was Facebook's first outside investor.

Born: 1967 · Frankfurt, West Germany
Roots: German; family emigrated to the US when he was one year old
Family: Middle class; Chemical engineer father whose work moved the family between the US and southern Africa.
Education: Stanford (philosophy) → Stanford Law School
Started with: $1M raised; Friends-and-family money for Thiel Capital in 1996.
Affiliations & societies: Bilderberg MeetingsDocumented; Listed as a member of the group's steering committee.; Information only — claims like these are often unverifiable and may be wrong.

The pathway

1987 · age 19
Founds The Stanford Review
A conservative student paper; its alumni network later staffs his companies.
1993 · age 25
Law, then trading
Securities law at Sullivan & Cromwell for seven months, then derivatives trading; leaves both.
1996 · age 28
Thiel Capital$1M
Starts a fund with money raised from friends and family.
1998 · age 31
Co-founds Confinity
The payments startup that becomes PayPal after merging with Musk's X.com.
2002 · age 34
PayPal sold to eBay$55M
His share of the $1.5B sale.
2003 · age 36
Co-founds Palantir~$30M
Funds it largely himself after venture firms decline; early backing includes In-Q-Tel, the CIA's venture arm.
2004 · age 37
First outside investor in Facebook$500K
2012 · age 44
Sells most of his Facebook stake~$1B
Total proceeds from the $500K position are reported around $1B.
2020 · age 52
Palantir direct listing$21B
The company lists at a valuation around $21B.

Sources

Compiled from these references and contemporaneous press reporting. Figures are approximate; verify before relying on them.