Peter Thiel, the billionaire venture capitalist and conservative libertarian, has long been a misfit in Silicon Valley.
Now as one of the tech industry’s main bridges to President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration, Mr. Thiel is playing a central role in helping shape the relationship with a president most tech titans didn’t want.
Mr. Thiel’s ascendancy as one of the president-elect’s trusted advisers is a surprising twist that shifts Silicon Valley’s political power center. Mr. Thiel is already playing an important role as a member of Mr. Trump’s transition team, helping recruit people to fill some 4,000 jobs in the administration and helping craft policy that could impact the most highly valued sector of the American economy.
He is also working closely with Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner. Together, the two helped broker the meeting in New York scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, when about a dozen chief executives from Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc. and other tech rivals with a combined market value of over $2 trillion parade into Trump Tower to meet with the president-elect. Mr. Trump is expected to emphasize job creation and making the government run more efficiently, according to a person familiar with the meeting agenda.
Now Silicon Valley will need to contend with a president who has railed against globalization and threatened to dismantle free trade, issues that are important to the tech industry. Mr. Thiel, a fierce contrarian, largely agrees with Mr. Trump’s views.
The tech industry enjoyed a mostly harmonious relationship with the White House under President Obama. Despite some discordâ€"such as the government’s imbroglio with large technology companies over data surveillanceâ€"the industry and administration mostly agreed on policies, from the importance of immigration to the need for free trade. Several companies have had close ties to the White House. Multiple former executives from Alphabet’s Google, for instance, have worked for the Obama administration.
In comments Tuesday, Mr. Trump said he values Mr. Thiel’s views on important issues. “Peter is an industry leader, innovator and a person who cares deeply about the power of the people,†Mr. Trump said. Mr. Thiel, 49 years old, declined to comment through a spokesman. But previous statements, including an interview with The Wall Street Journal days after the election, offer a window into some of his views. Mr. Thiel’s politics emerged at Stanford University, where he studied philosophy as an undergraduate in the late 1980s and co-founded a conservative student newspaper, The Stanford Review.
Mr. Thiel has spoken out against free trade and remains skeptical of globalizationâ€"worrisome for a tech industry that gets most of its revenue overseas. He wrote in his 2014 book, “Zero to One,†that globalization enables the developing world to copy existing technologies, which he says is unsustainable and inferior to finding new technology solutions. He also riles some free-speech advocates by bankrolling wrestler Hulk Hogan’s invasion-of-privacy lawsuit against Gawker Media, which ultimately went bankrupt.
But Mr. Thiel could also be an ally for Silicon Valley, especially as an advocate of entrepreneurism after co-founding PayPal Inc. and making a fortune through his venture firm Founders Fund with well-timed investments in internet companies, notably Facebook Inc., where he sits on the board. Mr. Thiel says government can play a central role supporting big tech projects such as the Apollo space program. He views monopolies as a positive force for the economy, which could portend weaker antitrust enforcement, and he expects Mr. Trump to push for less regulation and more fiscal stimulus which could help businesses, he said in the interview.
“Everyone in Silicon Valley is better off having Peter in the room because he will offer a perspective around innovation and venture capital and startups that no one else right now on the transition team can offer,†said Venky Ganesan, a managing director of Menlo Ventures and chairman of the National Venture Capital Association. It is unclear how much influence Mr. Thiel will ultimately have. He isn’t expected to take an official role with the new administration, and some people who know him say he might not even spend much time in Washington.
Some observers expect Mr. Thiel to focus on overhauling government spending in areas including science, technology and defense. Higher education may also be a target. He argued in the Journal’s November interview that there is an “education bubble†and offers grants to young entrepreneurs so they can skip college and build a company.
Mr. Thiel has recruited several associates to help with the transition at agencies like the Treasury, Defense and Commerce departments.
Others close to Mr. Trump, including his daughter Ivanka and her husband Mr. Kushner, have also sought counsel in tech circles for how the administration can work with the industry, say people familiar with the matter.
He is also seeking recommendations from companies he has invested in, including logistics company Flexport Inc., whose founder Ryan Petersen says he was asked for trade-policy recommendations by Trae Stephens, a member of his board and partner at Founders Fund whom Mr. Thiel brought into the transition team.
Mr. Petersen responded with a one-page essay arguing that the U.S. should invest in its ports, calling it an “embarrassment†that the country can’t handle the largest cargo ships. He says he disagrees with Mr. Trump’s protectionist trade message.
Mr. Thiel’s investments in multiple companies that do business with the government, including data-mining company Palantir Technologies Inc. and rocket maker Space Exploration Technologies Corp., raise questions whether he will profit from any new policies. Mr. Thiel has also co-invested in companies with Mr. Kushner, including real-estate investing startup Cadre and health-insurance startup Oscar Insurance, which was co-founded by Mr. Kushner’s younger brother Josh.
Mr. Thiel’s spokesman declined to comment on whether Mr. Thiel signed the transition team’s ethics agreement that forbids officials from working on matters intersecting their financial interests.
Write to Rolfe Winkler at rolfe.winkler@wsj.com and John D. McKinnon at john.mckinnon@wsj.com
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