Ranking: 5
Total contributions to super PACs: $2.7 million*
- $2.6 million to Endorse Liberty (pro-Ron Paul)
- $135,000 to Revolution PAC (pro-Ron Paul)
Notable federal hard money and 527 contributions:
- $5,000 to Marijuana Policy Project Medical Marijuana PAC (MPP Medical Marijuana PAC) (2004)
- $5,000 to Managed Funds Association PAC (2008)
Notable state-level contributions (see here):
- $25,900 to California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman (2010)
- $21,200 to former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (2003)
- $70,000 to California ballot measure Yes on 19 — Tax Cannabis 2010 (2010)
Corporate name: Clarium Capital; co-founder, PayPal (sold)
Corporate subsidiaries: None
Total spent on federal lobbying (2007-2011): $0
Lobbying issues: N/A
Family: None
Biography:
Peter Thiel is a gay, Christian, a technology mogul, an investor, a lawyer and a libertarian. He believes in creating underwater colonies and has sunk millions into research of life-extending technologies. And he’s Ron Paul’s biggest supporter — at least monetarily.
Thiel (pronounced “teal”) has contributed $2.6 million to the pro-Ron Paul super PAC Endorse Liberty, nearly all the group's funds. The large donations have drawn comparisons to Sheldon Adelson and Foster Friess, who gave generously to Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. But unlike Gingrich and Santorum, Paul has never met his patron, according to Slate.
Thiel made his fortune as the founder and CEO of PayPal, taking the company public and selling it to eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion (Thiel later contributed more than $25,000 to then-CEO Meg Whitman’s 2010 California gubernatorial run). He was an early investor in Facebook, fronting $500,000. He currently owns approximately 2.5 percent of the company, which the Wall Street Journal reports could be valued anywhere from $75 billion to $100 billion after it goes public and starts selling stock. Some of Thiel’s other ventures haven’t been quite as successful. The assets of Clarium Capital Management, the hedge fund he founded, shrunk from their peak of $7 billion in mid-2008 to less than $1 billion in mid-2011 — a loss of approximately 90 percent, Bloomberg reports.
But Thiel is one to take the long view. At a speech he gave in Washington, D.C., in February, Thiel said of his donations to Paul, “The campaign really is for 2016. I think we're just trying to build a libertarian base for the next cycle.”
Last updated: April 25, 2012
*2011-2012 election cycle; source: Federal Election Commission