Peter Thiel, the tech investor and conservative provocateur who has advised Mark Zuckerberg for nearly two decades at Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc., will step down from the company’s board after Meta’s annual shareholder meeting in May. (Bloomberg)
Thiel joined Facebook’s board in 2005, a year after the company was founded and seven years before its made its debut on Wall Street. But he has been an increasingly polarizing figure among the company’s directors due to his conservative politics. (AP)
Thiel, 54, wants to focus on influencing November’s midterm elections, said a person with knowledge of Thiel’s thinking who declined to be identified. He sees the midterms as crucial to changing the direction of the country, this person said, and he is backing candidates who support the agenda of former President Donald J. Trump. (NYT)
Thiel addressed the Republican National Convention in 2016, making history by speaking about being gay while also serving as Trump’s most prominent backer from Silicon Valley. (NBC News)
After publicly supporting former President Donald Trump’s campaign in 2016, Thiel has more quietly donated to Republican candidates that include Kris Kobach (who lost a Kansas Senate seat election despite Thiel’s backing), Hillbilly Elegy author J.D. Vance, and his former business associate Blake Masters. (The Verge)