A tech mogul and billionaire, Peter Thiel, is said to exert significant influence on the US government under President Donald Trump, according to a Bloomberg article. Unlike other billionaires, such as Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Thiel prefers to keep a low profile.
More than a dozen people connected to Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies and Founders Fund, have been integrated into the Trump administration, Bloomberg reported on Friday. This group includes “current and former employees of his companies, as well as individuals who have helped with the management of his wealth or profited from his investments and charitable donations.”
The news magazine listed 15 individuals within the government who are linked to the entrepreneur. Five of these officials work in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Musk.
Among the officials are Vice President J.D. Vance and the AI and crypto expert David Sacks. According to Bloomberg, Sacks worked at Thiel’s investment firm Mithril Capital, while Thiel is said to have acted as a “mentor” and sponsor of Vance. Thiel also reportedly helped Vance get in touch with Trump in 2021, after the former senator from Ohio publicly criticized the then-president-elect. Sacks, a long-time Thiel employee, is also a co-founder of PayPal.
Thiel, 57, does not hold an official position in the administration.
Bloomberg cited Quinn Slobodian, a professor of international history at Boston University, who described the extent of the influence of prominent big-tech figures on the US government as “unprecedented in modern times.” The scholar suspects that these individuals are more interested in “reshaping the way the government works from the bottom up” rather than simply profiting from government contracts.
The magazine noted that Musk, the main advocate against government waste and bureaucracy in the Trump administration, has long maintained relationships with Thiel.
On Friday, The New York Times, however, reported that in recent times, differences between Musk and other Trump team members have become more apparent. According to the newspaper, Musk and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had a heated exchange during an extraordinary cabinet meeting in the White House the previous day.
Musk allegedly accused Rubio of not implementing personnel cuts properly, so that the president had to intervene to end the dispute, the newspaper reported.
Later, Trump denied the incident, stating that “Elon and Marco get along great and both are doing a fantastic job.