Peter Thiel

As Silicon Valley continues its semi-awkward embrace of the second Trump administration, there are few billionaire technologists more quietly influential than Peter Thiel. Less than one year in, there’s little question that the uniquely skeptical and unorthodox worldview of the PayPal cofounder (and first Facebook investor) has filtered through the federal government thanks to more than a dozen key associates from Thiel’s various ventures. Among them: AI and crypto czar David Sacks (PayPal), former DOGE-lord Elon Musk (ditto), federal CIO Gregory Barbaccia (Palantir), White House OSTP director Michael Kratsios (Thiel Capital), and even Vice President JD Vance (Mithril Capital).