“It's good to test yourself and develop your talents and ambitions as fully as you can and achieve greater success; but I think success is the feeling you get from a job well done, and the key thing is to do the work.”

German-American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and conservative political activist

Peter Thiel is a German-American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and conservative political activist. He is known as a co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund, and as Facebook's first outside investor. His work spans startups, investment, and politics, and his public profile is tied to the companies he helped build and back. Forbes estimated his net worth at US$37.7 billion as of October 2026.