Peter Thiel is a an American billionaire known for projects such as co-founding PayPal with Max Levchin and Elon Musk as well as buying a 10% share in Facebook.

Thiel speaking in Berlin, 2014

Views

Possibly one of the world's richest transhumanists, he has invested in MIRI, Singularity University,[1] OpenAI, life extension projects such as SENS and is registered for cryonic suspension.[2]

To many, he is a prime example of an eccentric Silicon Valley investor.[3] He is also unusual for someone in his position in that he is religious, Christian and spiritual.[4]

He has often espoused anti-democratic views, suggesting that libertarian style freedom are incompatible with elements such as women's suffrage.[5] Such contemporary yet conservative politics align him with the small neo-reactionary movement.[6]

His view that college education is a bubble and provides little value beyond the admissions process (which identifies people as being bright), and his consequent encouragement of super-bright students to drop out of university, has been criticised by Vivek Wadha as contributing to "a race to the bottom of the global economic ladder".[7]

Thiel has expressed much interest in radical life extension, such as the potential life-extending effects of parabiosis, the practice of transplanting blood from a youthful organism to an older one.[8][9]

Politics

His political support has leant conservative–libertarian. He also was member of the Libertarian Party[10] until Trump entered the presidential race. He then switched his membership to the Republican Party and donated in Republican primaries to Donald Trump for the 2016 election.[11][12]

Following the 2016 Trump election victory, he acted as a technology advisor to the Trump Administration.[13]

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References