Peter Thiel

PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel became a venture capitalist and early investor in Facebook.He also cofounded CIA-backed big data startup Palantir, recently valued at $20 billion; his estimated 10% stake makes up two-thirds of his wealth. Thiel, the first big investor in Facebook, has sold most of his stake in the social network but still sits on the company's board.His Thiel Foundation gives a small number of young entrepreneurs $100,000 over two years to skip college and pursue their business dreams. Thiel moved to Los Angeles from San Francisco in early 2018 after calling Silicon Valley a "one-party state."