The character arc of Peter Thiel

A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record

Born on 11 October 1967 in Frankfurt am Main. Between then and now sit a move to Namibia in 1971 and back to the United States in 1977, valedictorian in 1985, The Stanford Review in 1987, a Stanford degree in 1989, a law degree in 1992, a clerkship from 1992, Credit Suisse in 1993, Thiel Capital Management in 1996, Fieldlink in 1998, the PayPal listing on 15 February 2002, Palantir in 2003, a Facebook stake in August 2004 and Founders Fund in 2005. The line below draws the story so far, in order.

Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.

Who is Peter Thiel?

A hundred thousand dollars in 1998.

He was born in Frankfurt am Main in 1967. His family moved to South West Africa, now Namibia, in 1971 and back to the United States in 1977, settling in Foster City, California. He was valedictorian of his graduating class in 1985. At Stanford he co-founded The Stanford Review in 1987, a conservative and libertarian newspaper, and was its first editor in chief until he graduated in 1989. He then took a Juris Doctor at Stanford Law School in 1992.

The conventional path came next and did not hold. He clerked for a federal appeals court from 1992 to 1993, and in 1993 took a job as a derivatives trader in currency options at Credit Suisse while also working as a speechwriter. He returned to California in 1996 and founded Thiel Capital Management.

In 1998, Luke Nosek's friend Max Levchin described a cryptography company idea to him, and he provided the initial hundred thousand dollars for Fieldlink, later renamed Confinity. It raised five hundred thousand dollars in February 1999, largely from friends and family, and four and a half million by the middle of that year. Confinity launched PayPal in 1999, merged with Elon Musk's X.com in 2000, went public on 15 February 2002 and was bought by eBay that October for 1.5 billion dollars. He launched Palantir in 2003 and has been its chairman since, became Facebook's first outside investor in August 2004 with 500,000 dollars for a 10.2 percent stake, and launched Founders Fund in 2005 with his PayPal partners Ken Howery and Luke Nosek. He co-founded Valar Ventures in 2010, founded Thiel Capital in 2011, co-founded Mithril Capital in 2012 and was a part time partner at Y Combinator from 2015 to 2017.

The moments

Peter Thiel's timeline.

The 1970s

Jun 1977

Back to California

Milestone, and it changed his direction. Three countries before he was ten.

The 1980s

Jun 1985

Valedictorian

Milestone. Top of the year, at a Californian high school.

Jun 1987

The Stanford Review

Milestone, and it changed his direction. A newspaper founded at nineteen, and edited until he left.

The 1990s

Jun 1992

Stanford Law School

Milestone, and it changed his direction. A law degree and a clerkship, which is the settled route.

Jun 1993

Derivatives at Credit Suisse

Milestone, and it changed his direction. Out of law and into currency options.

1 Jan 1996

Stay in law and finance

Crossroads, decided.

The paths laid out: go back to California, taken, or keep the settled route. He provided the initial 100,000 dollars for the company that became PayPal in 1998, and it was sold to eBay in October 2002.

Jun 1996

Thiel Capital Management

Milestone, and it changed his direction. Back to California, with a fund of his own.

Dec 1998

A hundred thousand dollars

Milestone, and it changed everything. One cheque, on an idea explained to him in a conversation.

Feb 1999

Half a million raised

Milestone, and it changed his direction. Friends and family first, and Nokia by the summer.

The 2000s

15 Feb 2002

PayPal goes public

Milestone, and it changed everything. Public in February, sold by October, and he ran it to the end.

Jun 2003

He launched Palantir

Milestone, and it changed everything. A second company, started the year after the first was sold.

Aug 2004

The first outside cheque

Milestone, and it changed everything. Five hundred thousand dollars, for a tenth of Facebook.

Jun 2005

Founders Fund

Milestone, and it changed everything. A fund built with the people he had already built a company with.

The 2010s

Jun 2012

Three more funds

Milestone, and it changed his direction. Three funds in three years, and a seat at Y Combinator.

The line reaches today still adding to itself, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What it has set moving started as a hundred thousand dollars handed to somebody he had just met, on an idea that did not yet have a name.

Your turn

Every line draws a unique story.

His turned on writing one cheque for a friend's idea in 1998. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.

Step through

Draw my own line Explore Character Arc

Peter Thiel: frequently asked questions

What people ask about his line.

What is Peter Thiel's character arc?

A childhood across Germany, Namibia and California, a law degree and a clerkship, and then a turn away from all of it. He returned to California in 1996, put the first 100,000 dollars into the company that became PayPal in 1998, and has been building and backing companies since.

Did Peter Thiel found PayPal?

He co-founded it with Max Levchin and Luke Nosek in 1998, providing the initial 100,000 dollars for Fieldlink, later renamed Confinity. He was its chief executive until eBay bought it in October 2002 for 1.5 billion dollars, months after it went public.

What was Peter Thiel's investment in Facebook?

In August 2004 he became Facebook's first outside investor, acquiring a 10.2 percent stake for 500,000 dollars. It is among the best known early cheques in the industry, written the year after he launched Palantir.

What did Peter Thiel do before PayPal?

He graduated from Stanford in 1989 and Stanford Law School in 1992, clerked for the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit from 1992 to 1993, and worked as a derivatives trader in currency options at Credit Suisse from 1993. He founded Thiel Capital Management in 1996.

What is Peter Thiel's Founders Fund?

A venture capital firm he launched in 2005 with his PayPal partners Ken Howery and Luke Nosek. He also co-founded Valar Ventures in 2010, founded Thiel Capital in 2011 and co-founded Mithril Capital in 2012.

What is Palantir, and did Peter Thiel start it?

He launched Palantir in 2003, a big data analysis company, and has been its chairman since then. He started it the year after PayPal was sold, rather than stopping, which is the pattern the whole line is built on.

Where was Peter Thiel born?

Frankfurt am Main, Germany, on 11 October 1967. His family moved to South West Africa, now Namibia, in 1971, and back to the United States in 1977, settling in Foster City, California, where he was valedictorian of his class in 1985.

Where does this timeline of Peter Thiel's life come from?

From the public record. Character Arc drew every moment on this line from the sources listed at the foot of the page, and the kind and weight of each moment are our editorial reading. Peter Thiel isn't a Member of Character Arc and has no connection with it, and no feeling is attributed to him.

More character arcs

Lives that rhyme with his.

Every Character, A to Z

Sources

Peter Thiel, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
PayPal initial public offering of 15 February 2002 and eBay acquisition of October 2002.
Stanford University and Stanford Law School degree records, 1989 and 1992.