Peter Andreas Thiel is an American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, author, and philanthropist. He is well known as the co-founder of the online payment service company PayPal and the founder of the investment management and hedge fund company Clarium Capital. Born in Frankfurt, Germany, Thiel grew up in the United States. He began his career as a judicial clerk before founding Thiel Capital. He later co-founded PayPal and served as its CEO until eBay acquired the company in 2002. After PayPal, he launched Clarium Capital and co-founded several startups, including the private software company Palantir Technologies, the venture capital firm Founders Fund, and the investment firm Valar Ventures. Thiel was also the first outside investor in Facebook and has been a partner at the startup accelerator Y Combinator. A conservative libertarian, he co-founded the student-run newspaper The Stanford Review and has made significant political donations. He is also the founder of the Thiel Foundation, which supports scientific research, startups, and the Thiel Fellowship, a program that encourages young entrepreneurs to forgo traditional college education in favor of innovation.