Tag Archives: Peter Thiel

Bloomberg News reports: Federal officials have said states will receive initial deliveries of the two vaccines within 24 hours of regulatory approval. Pfizer’s vaccine may be approved as soon as next week, Vice President Mike Pence has said. Each shot will be tracked by a computer system at HHS built by Palantir Technologies Inc. and Oracle Corp., another senior administration …

Vox reports: At his Park Avenue penthouse — 62 floors high and with a sparkling nighttime view of the Manhattan skyline — billionaire Peter Thiel last fall introduced to his friends an immigration hardliner who he would back with over $1 million to try and transform the Republican Party. The guest of honor was not President Donald Trump. It was …

The Daily Beast reports: Peter Thiel has declined to take part in President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign because he doesn’t think Trump has much of a chance at winning, The Wall Street Journal reports. The venture capitalist and PayPal founder reportedly has no plans to speak at the Republican National Convention or donate money to Trump’s campaign, citing a belief …

The Daily Beast reports: The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency urged health officials in “all states and territories” to provide “daily” updates on ventilator availability for the novel coronavirus directly to the data mining giant Palantir, according to emails shared with The Daily Beast and confirmed by FEMA. Palantir, co-founded by key Trump ally Peter Thiel, signed government …

The Daily Beast reports: One person in [Peter] Thiel’s circle tells The Daily Beast that Thiel has been “shit-talking” Trump over what he views as the president’s hamfisted and botched handling of the pandemic that has resulted in a stalled economy, massive job losses, and a U.S. death toll approaching 90,000. Another person familiar with Thiel’s recent griping said that …

The Daily Beast reports: A Silicon Valley company co-founded by a close ally of President Donald Trump will play a major new role in helping the government track the spread of the coronavirus, pulling information that is being used by top administration officials, including the president himself. Palantir, the data-mining firm created by investor Peter Thiel, is best known for …

The Wall Street Journal reports: Facebook Inc. ’s senior leadership is increasingly divided over how to address criticism of the company’s effect on U.S. politics, with board member and billionaire investor Peter Thiel serving as an influential voice advising CEO Mark Zuckerberg not to bow to public pressure, according to people familiar with the matter. One flashpoint of late: political …

NBC News reports: President Donald Trump hosted a previously undisclosed dinner with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook board member Peter Thiel at the White House in October, the company told NBC News on Wednesday. The meeting took place during Zuckerberg’s most recent visit to Washington, where he testified before Congress about Facebook’s new cryptocurrency Libra. Zuckerberg also gave a …

Recode reports: Federal investigators are probing the conduct and practices of Mithril Capital, a venture capital firm co-founded by Peter Thiel, Recode has learned. US officials — including the FBI — have in recent months questioned some people close to Mithril regarding concerns of possible financial misconduct at the firm, according to people familiar with the matter who insisted on …

Axios reports: Peter Thiel, billionaire investor and Facebook board member, on Sunday night said that Google should be federally investigated for allegedly aiding the Chinese military. Thiel is the tech industry’s highest-profile Trump supporter, and one of the most powerful players in Silicon Valley. Thiel spoke at the National Conservatism Conference, a new event that bills itself as being focused …

CNBC reports: The Alliance of American Football will suspend all football operations on Tuesday, according to NBC Sports affiliate ProFootballTalk. Founded and led by television producer Charlie Ebersol, the Alliance of American Football is also backed in part by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, The Chernin Group, and venture capitalist Keith Rabois. CBS signed on as the official TV partner for …

Bloomberg reports: Peter Thiel, the Facebook Inc. board member who helped Donald Trump win the White House and became Silicon Valley’s punching bag in the process, said Thursday that Trump has been “relatively successful” and that he’ll support him in 2020. The venture capitalist also defended Trump’s sometimes loose relationship with facts. He said unlike the past three U.S. presidents, …

The New York Post reports: Big pot has finally achieved big market cap. Shares of Peter Thiel-backed marijuana grower Tilray soared more than 60 percent on Wednesday, hitting a market value of $22.8 billion, as bullish comments from the company’s chief executive stoked Wall Street’s growing euphoria over the budding business of legalized marijuana. Shares of the Canada-based weed farmer …

The Verge reports: Venture capitalist Peter Thiel has returned to teach a class at Stanford University, according to a listing spotted by Stanford graduate Andrew Granato on Twitter. Thiel is currently listed as a co-instructor for “German 270: Sovereignty and the Limits of Globalization and Technology.” Thiel attended Stanford for both undergraduate and law school, and he previously taught a …

The New York Times reports: As a start-up called Cambridge Analytica sought to harvest the Facebook data of tens of millions of Americans in summer 2014, the company received help from at least one employee at Palantir Technologies, a top Silicon Valley contractor to American spy agencies and the Pentagon. It was a Palantir employee in London, working closely with …

Sports Illustrated reports: Charlie Ebersol, the son of longtime NBC Sports executive Dick Ebersol and director of the 30 for 30 documentary about the original XFL his father created with WWE’s Vince McMahon, announced Tuesday that he plans to launch a football league next February. The league is called the Alliance of American Football and will feature eight 50-man teams …

Vanity Fair reports: PayPal co-founder and Gawker nemesis Peter Thiel isn’t the only one eyeing the final remains of Nick Denton’s gossipy, sometimes groundbreaking media empire. Mike Cernovich, the right-wing lifestyle guru and self-proclaimed journalist, is offering $500,000 in cash for Gawker’s assets, according to a copy of the offer letter obtained by the Hive. “For the past eighteen months …

Buzzfeed News reports: Billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel wants to create a new conservative cable news network and his representatives have engaged the powerful Mercer family to help with funding, according to two sources familiar with the situation. Thiel, a Facebook board member who secretly funded lawsuits to bring down Gawker Media, had originally explored a plan to create the …

Breitbart this afternoon named its “top 6 LGBT icons of 2017.” Topping their list is Capitol Police Officer Crystal Griner, who is credited with helping stop the deadly attack on a Congressional baseball game. What Breitbart doesn’t mention, of course, is that Trump honored Griner with the Presidential Medal Of Valor just one day after his demand to ban transgender …

Buzzfeed reports: Donald Trump’s most prominent Silicon Valley supporter has distanced himself from the president in multiple private conversations, describing at different points this year an “incompetent” administration, and one that may well end in “disaster.” Peter Thiel’s unguarded remarks have surprised associates, some of whom are still reeling from his full-throated endorsement of Trump at the Republican National Convention. …