Peter Thiel: Co-Founder & Former CEO of PayPal

Peter Thiel is a German-American entrepreneur and venture capitalist, a person who makes investments in companies in exchange for an equity stake. He is the Co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund. He became Facebook's first outside investor after acquiring 10% stake for $500,00 in August 2004. He was ranked 4th on the Forbes Midas List of 2014 with a net worth of $2.2 billion. He was named on the Forbes 400 list in 2020, with a net worth of $2.1 billion. He is an active Philanthropist and conducts most of his philanthropic activities through the Thiel Foundation.

Peter Thiel- Biography

Peter Thiel- Personal Life
Peter Thiel- Education
Peter Thiel- Professional Life
Peter Thiel- Startups
Peter Thiel- Success story
Peter Thiel- Co-founder Former CEO of PayPal
Peter Thiel- Founder of Thiel Foundation
Peter Thiel- Honors & Awards

Peter Thiel- Personal Life

Peter was born in Frankfurt, Germany. His family shifted to United States, later to Southern Africa and finally settled in California in 1977. He is a brilliant chess player and holds the title of Life Master, a chess title awarded by the United States Chess Federation (USCF).

He married his long-time partner, Matt Danzeisen in October 2017. His wife works as a portfolio manager at Thiel Capital. The couple bear a daughter.

Peter Thiel- Education

Peter received his bachelor's degree in Philosophy from Stanford University in 1989. He further earned his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Stanford Law School in 1992.

Peter Thiel- Professional Life

After completing his education, he started working as a judicial law clerk for Judge James Larry Edmondson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He has also worked for Sullivan & Cromwell, as a securities lawyer. He was also a speechwriter for former- U.S. Secretary of Education William Bennet. He was a derivative trader at Credit Suisse.

Peter Thiel- Startups

He co-founded his first startup named Thiel Capital Management in 1996. He is the Co-founder of PayPal and served as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) from 1999 to 2002. His CEO position ended owing to the sale of PayPal to eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion.

He then co-founded a global macro-hedge fund called Clarium Capital. In 2004, he launched a big data-analysis company called Palantir Technologies. The following year, he established the Founders Fund, which was a venture capital fund.

In 2012, he sold his majority shares in Facebook for over $1 billion but retained his position on the board of directors. In 2010, he co-founded an internationally focused venture firm, Valar Ventures. In 2012, he co-founded Mithril Capital Management, where he serves as the investment committee chair. He served as a partner at Y Combinator from 2015 to 2017.

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Peter Thiel- Success Story

Apparently, Peter's attention went towards the development of the internet and personal computer that had launched the dot-com boom. He raised $1 million to establish Thiel Capital Management and commenced his career as a venture capitalist.

When Max Levchin introduced him to his cryptographic based company, Confinity, which was cordially launched in 1998. With the launch of Confinity, they realized that they could develop a software to assist in making online payments.

They aimed at creating a type of digital wallet for the convenience and security reasons of the customer through data encryption on digital devices. Confinity executed the idea by launching PayPal in 1999. PayPal gradually evolved with new possibilities for handling money. Moreover, Peter is considered as the "Don of the PayPal Mafia".

Peter Thiel- Co-founder Former CEO of PayPal

Peter served as the CEO of PayPal from 1999 to 2002. Under his leadership, PayPal grew through mergers like Elon Musk's online financial services companies like, X.com, and Pixo. These mergers helped PayPal to expand its market via wireless phone and gradually transformed it into a safer and more user-friendly tool.

Thus, PayPal enabled users to transfer money through a free online registration and email without the hassle of exchanging bank account information. The company went public on 15 February, 2002. Peter retained his CEO position at PayPal until the company was sold to eBay for $1.5 billion in October 2002. At the time of acquisition, Peter had a 3.7% stake in the company which was worth $55 million.

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Peter Thiel- Founder of Thiel Foundation

Peter, the creator of PayPal, established a private foundation called Thiel Foundation, through which he governs the grant-making bodies Breakout Labs and Thiel Fellowship. He funds non-profit research into artificial intelligence, seasteading and life extension. He basically carries out all his philanthropic activities through Thiel foundation.

Peter Thiel- Honors & Awards

• Peter received a TechCrunch Crunchie Award for Venture Capitalist of the Year in February 2013.
• He received the Alumnus of the Year award from an organization called Students For Liberty in 2012.
• He was awarded an honorary degree from Universidad Francisco Marroquin on 7 November, 2009.
• He was honored as a Young Global leader by the World Economic Forum as one of the most distinguished leaders under the age of 40 (2007).
• He won the Herman Lay Award for Entrepreneurship in 2006.

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FAQs

What is PayPal?

It's an easy and quick way to send and request money online. You can transfer money (abroad) to family, online shops, friends, and auction sites like eBay.

Is PayPal safe?

Yes, PayPal is safe.

Is PayPal safe to link bank account?

Yes, PayPal provides 100% protection against unauthorized payments sent from your account.