J.D. Vance’s Injury and attention to Peter Thiel
Founder of PayPal, Silicon Valley legend who invested in Facebook
Thiel plays a role as Vance’s mentor and political godfather
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Peter Thiel, founder of PayPal and successful investor in Silicon Valley. / X (Former Twitter),
, ‘Alongside Republican Senate hopeful J.D. Vance from Ohio, who is gaining attention for his nomination as vice president, there is another figure being closely watched. Peter Thiel (56), known as the founder of PayPal and the most successful investor in Silicon Valley, where startups thrive. Thiel, who coined the term “Zero to One” to create monopolistic profits by creating something from nothing, invested in companies such as Facebook, Airbnb, Palantir, Lyft, DeepMind, Spotify, and SpaceX, amassing assets of over $10 billion (approximately 15.25 trillion KRW). His success stories are hard to come by.’,
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, ‘However, Thiel’s support ahead of the November election is gaining even more attention, especially since his bet has intrigued many. This is because the two not only share a connection in terms of Thiel publicly supporting Vance and providing significant financial support, but they have also shared a philosophy and worldview for a long time. According to The Washington Post (WP) on the 28th, citing an insider, “For Peter, Vance is a cross-generational bet,” and claimed, “Venture capitalists in Thiel’s network who have avoided Washington until recently could benefit by having a new asset like Vance in the White House.” Shortly after Vance’s nomination as vice president, one of Thiel’s business partners even posted on X (former Twitter) saying, “There is a former venture capitalist in the greatest country in the world.”’,
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, ‘The relationship between Thiel and Vance goes back 13 years. While attending Yale Law School after military service, Vance listened to Thiel’s lecture. At that time, the already prominent Thiel lamented the “tyranny of technology,” asserting that the obsession of elites with fiercely competitive jobs was hindering innovation. Vance described it as “the most important moment while attending graduate school.” He referred to Thiel as “probably the smartest person I’ve ever met” and made plans to transition his career outside of law. After working as a lawyer at a law firm for a while post-graduation, he moved out west and transitioned to a venture capitalist at Thiel’s venture capital company, Mithril Capital. Colin Greenspun, who later collaborated with Vance from this company, said, “The strength of Thiel’s network is that interesting people come and go, and J.D. was someone we wanted close by. We knew he was someone absolutely essential to our network.”‘,
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Republican vice-presidential candidate J.D. Vance speaking at a campaign event in Minnesota on the 27th. / Reuters·News1,
, ‘WP stated, “Thiel has become a fairly good mentor to Vance.” While working at Thiel’s company, Vance became accustomed to the atmosphere where technological innovation was revered as a driving force for social progress, and within that atmosphere, he learned how investors evaluate businesses. Evaluation of Vance among Silicon Valley figures with whom he exchanged ideas is mixed. One insider said, “Vance hardly talked about his political ambitions and didn’t seem to seek attention,” while another said, “He was drawn not to people with similar backgrounds, but to those who could help his career.”‘,
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, ‘As recently as 2016, Vance, who compared Trump to Hitler, had transformed into a “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) Republican by the time he announced his candidacy for Ohio Senator in 2021. WP noted that this transformation was a result of several years of dialogue with Thiel. Thiel, who was one of Trump’s most important supporters in the 2016 presidential election, even gave a supporting speech at the convention. Although he did not support Trump in the 2020 election, the following year he took Vance to Mar-a-Lago to introduce him to Trump. Thiel is classified as a supporter of the Republican party but advocates for issues such as same-sex marriage under the banner of “libertarianism.” Thiel himself is openly gay. It is intriguing to note that he contributed financially to Democratic figures such as Gavin Newsom, Governor of California, and Ro Khanna, a member of the House of Representatives.’,
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Donald Trump, former president, chatting with Silicon Valley IT industry personnel at Trump Tower in New York shortly after his election in December 2016. The person sitting directly to Trump’s right is Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal. / AFP News1,
, ‘Thiel donated $15 million (approximately 208 billion KRW) to Vance’s election campaign ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. Vance raised the highest amount ever for a single Senate candidate, with Thiel, along with other Silicon Valley giants like David Sacks, also providing sponsorships. When Vance established his venture capital firm in 2019, Thiel contributed significant capital. According to CBS, “Technology field high-value donors provided the rocket fuel needed for Vance’s rise,” and said, “The most prominent benefactor was Thiel.” The interpretation of what Thiel wants in return for investing in Vance remains in the realm of speculation. Some point to a “business understanding” due to companies like Palantir and Anduril, which Thiel invested in, potentially competing for multi-billion dollar federal government contracts.’,
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, ‘There is also a view that sees this as part of the so-called “techno-libertarianism,” which seeks human progress through technology and science. It is an idea that Thiel has long advocated for, with some seeing Vance, who understands the Silicon Valley language, shifting from being a political punching bag in the tech industry to a “persuasive envoy” leading the “capitalist engine” (WP). Another Thiel network alumnus, who ran for the Arizona House of Representatives two years ago, Blake Masters, said, “He understands almost intuitively the problems that lie ahead and is by no means motivated solely by money,” adding, “the goal is to create new technologies that the government, once capable of carrying out large initiatives like the ‘Manhattan Project’ (which developed nuclear weapons), can no longer create.”‘,
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