Peter Thiel

Peter Thiel was born in 1967 in Frankfurt, West Germany. Peter Thiel's background is described as German; family emigrated to the US when he was one year old. Growing up, the family was middle class — chemical engineer father whose work moved the family between the US and southern Africa. 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

1. 1987 · age 19
   Founds The Stanford Review

   A conservative student paper; its alumni network later staffs his companies.

2. 1993 · age 25
   Law, then trading

   Securities law at Sullivan & Cromwell for seven months, then derivatives trading; leaves both.

3. 1996 · age 28
   Thiel Capital$1M

   Starts a fund with money raised from friends and family.

4. 1998 · age 31
   Co-founds Confinity

   The payments startup that becomes PayPal after merging with Musk's X.com.

5. 2002 · age 34
   PayPal sold to eBay$55M

   His share of the $1.5B sale.

6. 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.

7. 2004 · age 37
   First outside investor in Facebook$500K
8. 2012 · age 44
   Sells most of his Facebook stake~$1B

   Total proceeds from the $500K position are reported around $1B.

9. 2020 · age 52
   Palantir direct listing$21B

   The company lists at a valuation around $21B.