Peter Thiel net worth: You might be wondering how much is Peter Thiel worth? Peter Thiel’s fortune comes from the proceeds of his investments in technology companies including Facebook and PayPal and other investments such as Palantir Technologies.
Who is Peter Thiel?
Age: 58
Source of Wealth: Facebook, PayPal
Country: United States
Net Worth: $5.3 billion
Peter Thiel is a German-American entrepreneur and investor. He is the co-founder of PayPal and the managing director of the venture capital firm Founders Fund. Thiel made the first outside investment in Facebook where he serves as a director and he co-founded Palantir Technologies, where he serves as chairman.
He has provided early funding for LinkedIn, Yelp, and dozens of startups, many run by former colleagues who have been dubbed the “PayPal Mafia.” He is a partner at Founders Fund, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm that has funded companies including SpaceX and Airbnb
Following Palantir’s September 2020 initial public offering, Thiel owns about 8% shares in the company. He’s also credited with shares held directly as well as those held by Clarium Capital, PT Ventures, STS Holdings II, Rivendell 7 and Rivendell 25 because he’s the beneficial owner of these entities.
The billionaire indirectly owns stakes in various companies through his interest in venture capital firm, Founders Fund. His stake in the firm is calculated to be 42.5% based on information in the company’s 2020 Form ADV filing. Its valuation assumes insiders own 21% of the $15.9 billion in assets managed across its funds.
Thiel first invested in Facebook in 2004. According to regulatory filings, he sold 16.8 million shares of Facebook at its May 2012 initial public offering, followed by 22.3 million shares in August 2012. Thiel holds 11,561 shares of Facebook directly, according to a May 2020 filing.
Prior to the IPO, Thiel sold half his stake in Facebook to Digital Sky Technology in May 2009, according to ‘The Facebook Effect,’ a history of the early years of the company. This transaction is valued at $200 million based on the private market valuations of Facebook at the time.
Thiel was a co-founder of PayPal and is estimated to have collected about $100 million in proceeds from the company’s 2002 initial public offering and subsequent stock sales, according to company filings and data.
How Did he Make his Fortune?
Peter Thiel made his fortune through various investments in tech companies. In 1999, he co-founded PayPal on expectations that people would want a more integrated way to spend money online. He ended up making as much as $90 million after the company’s public offering and subsequent all-stock sale to eBay in 2002.
Following his successful investment with PayPal, the trained attorney started the Clarium Capital hedge fund. The company’s assets grew to over $8 billion within six years. However, following the financial crises, Clarium’s asset reduced to a few hundred million dollars, almost all of which belongs to Thiel.
Thiel being a smart investor, was the first outside investor in Facebook, initially loaning $500,000 to Mark Zukerberg in June 2004.
Although he has sold most of his stake in the social network but still sits on the company’s board. In 2004, he co-founded Palantir Technologies, a CIA-backed big data startup, which went public via a SPAC in 2020 and had a $37 billion market cap in early May 2021.
Thiel also has a history of making numerous small and profitable venture-stage investments in companies, including LinkedIn, Zynga, Stripe and SpaceX, among others.
Did you also know that Peter Thiel is a Philanthropist?
Peter Thiel inaugurated the Thiel Fellowship program with 24 awardees in 2011. Thiel fellows are college-age people granted $100,000 to skip college and focus on their entrepreneurial efforts and “self-education.”
Most of his philanthropic efforts are directed toward projects intended to influence the masses in constructive ways, such as promoting planned alternative government experiments on sea colonies and supporting research into prolonging lifespans. He also gives heavily to philosophical efforts that promote religious non-violence based on the theories of French-born Stanford University professor Rene Girard.
What is Peter Thiel Net worth?
Peter Thiel has an estimated net worth of $5.3 billion as a result of his huge success through his numerous investment.
According to reports by ProPublica, Thiel has used a retirement account designed to help ordinary Americans save for their golden years to amass a $5bn tax-free nest egg.
With his numerous investment, Peter Thiel’s net worth is expected to increase and his numerous investments continue to gain global acceptability.