Trump supporter in Silicon Valley, PayPal’s Co-founder Peter Thiel quits Meta’s Board and shifted his focus to Midterm Elections.
Everyone from Silicon Valley knows this guy, Thiel was one of Facebook’s first investors, but also has deep ties to Trump and Elon Musk.
The company recently lost more value—$226 billion—in a single day of trading than any company in the history of American stock markets. Now it has lost Peter Thiel, who will concentrate on politics.
Thiel plans to devote time to pursuing his political passions, specifically his support for the Republican party and former United States President Donald Trump in the 2022 midterms.
WLT cited a coincidence:
But news broke today that he was stepping down from the Facebook/Meta board, and this is especially noteworthy and intriguing given that Jack Dorsey announced he was stepping down from Twitter’s Board on the exact same day, effective immediately.
Coincidence? I’m skeptical.
Well, others are too:
How are the ‘coincidence theorists’ explain that Jack Dorsey is leaving Twitter and Peter Thiel is leaving Facebook/META on the very same day?
We have a simple one: it’s happening.
— Sagezza (@sagezza2) May 25, 2022
Peter Thiel leaving Facebook.
Jack Dorsey leaving Twitter.
How the darlings get snapped!— Afshine Emrani MD FACC (@afshineemrani) May 25, 2022
Do you think it’s a coincidence these two stepped down on the same day?
Chuck Callesto broke the story on Thiel:
BREAKING REPORT: Facebook’s first big investor, billionaire Peter Thiel, is ‘STEPPING DOWN from Meta’s board effective immediately’ to pursue Trump agenda..
— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) May 25, 2022
Facebook’s first big investor, Peter Thiel, is ‘stepping down from Meta’s board effective immediately’ https://t.co/oXqFu5Mh6U
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) May 25, 2022
The really interesting thing is the reports saying he is leaving to quote: “Pursue Trump’s Agenda”. Take a look:
As of today, Peter Thiel is retired from Facebook’s board: https://t.co/CqMlPT0OmB
— Sarah Frier (@sarahfrier) May 25, 2022
Here’s what Bloomberg reported:
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.
Thiel, 54, who became a director in 2005 after an early investment in Facebook, plans to increase his political support of former President Donald Trump’s agenda during the 2022 election and doesn’t want his political activities to be a distraction for Facebook, according to a person close to Thiel.
His focus will be on backing Blake Masters, JD Vance and others who advance the Trump agenda, the person added, referring to Republican candidates for U.S. Senate.
“Peter is truly an original thinker who you can bring your hardest problems and get unique suggestions,” Zuckerberg said in a statement. “He has served on our board for almost two decades, and we’ve always known that at some point he would devote his time to other interests.”
Thiel helped elect Trump president in 2016 by donating money and speaking on his behalf at the Republican National Convention. When Trump became president, Thiel worked on his transition team while nominating colleagues to fill government positions, including former Thiel Capital Chief of Staff Michael Kratsios, who served as the chief technology officer of the White House until last year. Thiel has continued to support Trump while meeting with members of the Republican Party and members of the far-right in recent years.
Trump Thiel
Donald Trump speaks next to Peter Thiel during a meeting with technology leaders at Trump Tower in New York, in 2016.Photographer: Albin Lohr-Jones/CNP/Bloomberg
Thiel’s departure will mark the end of one of the most productive — and harshly criticized — partnerships between a chief executive officer and an investor in all of business. Thiel has been a close adviser to Zuckerberg ever since the duo met through Napster co-founder Sean Parker, when Facebook was still just a social network for college campuses. Thiel was instrumental in shaping Zuckerberg’s ethos during the early days of Facebook and its relentless pursuit of growth.
Peter Thiel is leaving Meta’s $FB $META board of directors to “pursue Trump political agenda” pic.twitter.com/crAKFwfZtq
— Stock Market News (@StockMKTNewz) February 7, 2022
Thiel, according to the press release, will stay in his position until the company’s 2022 annual shareholder meeting.
Thomas Cooper