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In 2006, Thiel won the Herman Lay Award for Entrepreneurship. PRESCOTT, Arizona Billionaire tech CEO Peter Thiel may be more responsible than anyone else for Blake Masters' ascent in the Arizona Republican Senate primary. In 1996, Peter established his own company Thiel Capital Management an investment fund. [74] Valar Ventures also invested in New Zealand-based companies Pacific Fibre[75] and Booktrack. ", "Tech elite discovers it may need Peter Thiel", "Peter Thiel's War On Gawker: A Timeline", "Gawker founder Nick Denton files for bankruptcy", "Peter Thiel's application for New Zealand citizenship", "Peter Thiel, technology entrepreneur and investor. Press Esc to cancel. [162] He has also contributed articles to The Wall Street Journal, First Things, Forbes, and Policy Review, a journal formerly published by the Hoover Institution, on whose board he sits. In The Social Network, Thiel was portrayed by Wallace Langham. He also became a board member at Facebook. In 2009, it was reported that Thiel helped fund college student James O'Keefe's "Taxpayers Clearing House" videoa satirical look at the Wall Street bailout. was adopted by his mother's third husband. This was the first outside investment in Facebook, and valued the company at $4.9 million. The fete will happen a . The biography of Billy Joel's wife, Where is Marie-anne Thibaud now? [121], In September 2006, Thiel announced that he would donate $3.5 million to foster anti-aging research through the non-profit Methuselah Mouse Prize foundation. Benjy has also written for DailyMail and TMZ. June 5, 2022 Spread the love Matt Danzeisen is a successful American businessman, investor, & financial expert, who is primarily known as the husband of Peter Thiel. [26] Over the years, Thiel has continued that relationship, consulting with the top editorial staff several times a year, hosting events at his house, donating to the newspaper and placing graduating students in internships or jobs within his network. Peter has now started investing in such private businesses as Stripe, Airbnb, and Vivint, among many others. PAY ATTENTION: Help us change more lives, join TUKO.co.kes Patreon programme. He joined them in 1993 while also working as a speechwriter for former United States Secretary of Education William Bennett, before returning to California in 1996 to seek a more meaningful occupation. The net worth of Matt is estimated to be more than $1 million. [77][78], In March 2015, Thiel joined Y Combinator as one of 10 part-time partners. In addition, Matt sits on the FinTech space board. Thiel also has a chapter giving advice in Tim Ferriss' self-help book Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers. The couple married at a private ceremony held on October 11, 2017. Who Is Peter Thiel's Husband? . His exact birth details are unavailable. About; Attribution; Cart; Checkout; Contact; Create Account; Dashboard. I don't have any big regrets, but if I had to do it over I would try to think more about the future than I did at the time You cannot get out of student debt even if you personally go bankrupt, it's a form of almost like indentured servitude, it's attached to your physical person for the rest of your life. But he doesn't often speak on the topic of religion in front of a mostly tech crowd. The two became an item in October 2017. [49][50], Palantir's first backer was the Central Intelligence Agency's venture capital arm In-Q-Tel. Matt's Married Life with Husband Peter Thiel- Personal Life Matt Danzeisen and Peter Thiel got married back in 2017. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. He spent most of his childhood in Washington, so he likely schooled there. Simon & Schuster. [186], In a 2015 conversation with Tyler Cowen, Thiel claimed that innovative breakthroughs were happening in computing/IT and not the physical world. You can run out of it. [60] In 2016, he sold a little under 1 million of his shares for around $100 million. [16], Before settling in Foster City, California, in 1977, the Thiels lived in South Africa and South West Africa (modern-day Namibia). He also stated that, after the September 11 attacks, the debate in the United States was "will we have more security with less privacy or less security with more privacy?". Peter Thiel and His Husband, Matt Danzeisen, Co-Own the New Zealand-Based Company, Second Star Limited Asides from their long-term romantic involvement, Matt Danzeisen and Peter Thiel. Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund, holds hundred . Help us change more lives, join TUKO.co.kes Patreon programme. [76], In June 2012, he launched Mithril Capital Management, named after the fictitious metal in The Lord of the Rings, with Jim O'Neill and Ajay Royan. [45], In May 2003, Thiel incorporated Palantir Technologies, a big data analysis company named after the Tolkien artifact. David Runciman. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Vance, the author of the bestselling book Hillbilly Elegy, a much bigger contribution than he made to support Donald . Thiel has cut a check of just over $10 million to an outside group backing J.D. Check out the article for more details on the singer's exciting story. He has risen to fame through his marriage to Peter Thiel. Can AltSchool The Edtech Startup With $174M From Billionaires Like Zuckerberg And Thiel Save Itself From Failure? How did Matt and Peter Thiel meet? All Rights Reserved. Thiel stated that Gawker articles about others, including his friends, had "ruined people's lives for no reason," and said, "It's less about revenge and more about specific deterrence. Similarly, their wedding was taken place in Vienna, Austria. [172] At the time that his citizenship was revealed, The New Zealand Herald came out with the report that the New Zealand Defence Force, the Security Intelligence Service and the Government Communications and Security Bureau have long-standing links with Thiel's Palantir. [citation needed], With Confinity, Thiel realized they could develop software to bridge a gap in making online payments. As I've said before, I wish I'd never written those things. Peter was Facebook's first outside investor and co-founder of PayPal, Palantir . Through the Thiel Foundation, Thiel governs the grant-making bodies Breakout Labs and Thiel Fellowship, and funds non-profit research into artificial intelligence, life extension, and seasteading. 03:19. In 2016, Thiel confirmed that he had funded Hulk Hogan in the Bollea v. Gawker lawsuit because Gawker had previously outed Thiel as gay. [59] He retained his seat on the board of directors. The essay draws on several thinkers and political theorists and argues that the September 11 attacks upset the entire political and military framework of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and therefore a reexamination of the foundations of modern politics was needed. Peter Andreas Thiel (/til/; born 11 October 1967) is a German-American billionaire entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and political activist. C ome May, Peter Thiel plans to leave a post he has held for 18 years: board member of Facebook's parent company. As of February 2017, he had donated over $7 million to the foundation. The technopreneur studied Philosophy at Stanford University before pursuing a Doctorate in Law at the Stanford School of Law. He left the law firm after seven months and three days, citing a lack of transcendental value in his work. [103], In 2012, Thiel, along with Nosek and Scott Banister, put their support behind the Endorse Liberty Super PAC. Thiel wanted to create a type of digital wallet for consumer convenience and security by encrypting data on digital devices, and in 1999 Confinity launched PayPal.[37]. Several Romanian tabloids photographed the notorious venture capitalist bloodsucker known as Peter Thiel along with his husband Matt Danzeisen at a fancy Halloween party at Bran Castle in . PayPal promised to open up new possibilities for handling money. "[83], On 15 August 2016, Thiel published an opinion piece in The New York Times in which he argued that his defense of online privacy went beyond Gawker. Become TUKO.co.ke ambassador get a branded T-shirt, hoodie or water bottle at our TUKO Shop! The company steadily grew and in 2015 was valued at $20 billion, with Thiel being the company's largest shareholder. Thiel is an occasional commentator on CNBC, having appeared on both Closing Bell with Kelly Evans, and Squawk Box with Becky Quick. 4203 words. [5][6] As of May 2022[update], Thiel had an estimated net worth of $7.19 billion and was ranked 297th on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.[7]. "[190], In 2016, Thiel apologized for two statements he made in the book: 1) "The purpose of the rape crisis movement seems as much about vilifying men as about raising 'awareness'" and 2) "But since a multicultural rape charge may indicate nothing more than belated regret, a woman might 'realize' that she had been 'raped' the next day or even many days later." Currently, Danzeisen works as a portfolio manager at Thiel Capital, which suggests that he has some background and expertise in finance. [86] In 2019, Thiel called Google "seemingly treasonous" and urged a government investigation, citing Google's work with China and asking whether DeepMind or Google's senior management had been "infiltrated" by foreign intelligence agencies. However, Danzeisen had likely been Peter Thiel's boyfriend for a long time. [6] His 3.7% stake in the company was worth $55 million at the time of acquisition. Benjy studied journalism at Goldsmiths University of London, graduating in 2009. Benjy is currently a reporter for BiographyPedia based in Adelaide, Australia. In the meantime, Thiel is planning a party. In the twenty-first century, people need a form of money that's more convenient and secure, something that can be accessed from anywhere with a PDA or an Internet connection. Check your inbox to be the first to know the hottest news. He is American by nationality, white by ethnicity, and is a Christian. [17][18] Thiel's mother became a U.S. citizen, but his father did not. [35], Upon returning to the Bay Area, Thiel noticed that the development of the internet and personal computer had launched the dot-com boom. Eventually PayPal will be able to change this. During that time, debates on identity politics and political correctness were ongoing. He made his public debut in May 2017, when he spoke at a conference about the condition of financial technology. With financial support from friends and family, he raised $1 million toward the establishment of Thiel Capital Management and embarked on his venture capital career. Matt Danzeisens net worth is estimated conservatively at over $1 million, earned from his involvement in the business industry. Peter Thiel holds hundred dollars bills as he speaks during the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami on April 7, 2022. Matt has been open about his gay sexual orientation. He also has donated to a PAC. Unfortunately, the couple has not disclosed how they met or how long they dated. Peter was born on October 11, 1967, in Frankfurt, Germany. They announced the news at Peter's 50th birthday party, shocking several netizens. [82] Thiel referred to his financial support of Bollea's case as one of the "greater philanthropic things that I've done. When was Matt born? On the other hand, his husband, Peter Thiel, has a net worth of $7.24 billion and ranks at Top 400 billionaires of the United States as of 2021. Klaus then worked for various mining companies, creating an itinerant upbringing for Thiel and his younger brother, Patrick Michael Thiel. [1][2][3][4] A co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund, he was the first outside investor in Facebook. Peter Thiel is actually gay. All About Matt Danzeisen Peter Thiel, in full Peter Andreas Thiel, (born October 11, 1967, Frankfurt am Main, West Germany), German American entrepreneur and business executive who helped found PayPal, an e-commerce company, and Palantir Technologies, a software firm involved in data analysis. [169] He had received permanent residency in New Zealand in 2007. After PayPal, he founded Clarium Capital, a global macro hedge fund based in San Francisco. He co-founded PayPal with Max Levchin and Luke Nosek in 1998, serving as chief executive officer until its sale to eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion. The name of his husband is Matt Danzeisen. More About The Man. : The Left's Plan to Turn Our Country Into a Third World Hellhole, 2022 United States Senate election in Arizona, "The Alarming Rise of Peter Thiel, Tech Mogul and Political Provocateur", "The Anti-Democratic Worldview of Steve Bannon and Peter Thiel", "Is Trump Mulling Peter Thiel for a Top Intelligence Advisory Post? Thiel is, as you probably know, a Silicon Valley billionaire superstar who co-founded PayPal and Palantir Technologies, a controversial software firm that specializes in big data analytics and. The 47-year-old investor, who co-founded PayPal and made an early bet on Facebook Inc, said he's taking human growth hormone every day in a wide-ranging interview with Bloomberg Television's Emily Chang. "[31][32], After graduating from Stanford Law School, Thiel clerked for Judge James Larry Edmondson of the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. [147], Thiel married his long-time partner Matt Danzeisen in October 2017, in Vienna, Austria. Regarding his professional career, Matt Danzeisen has served as a portfolio manager at BlackRock, Inc., a global investment management corporation. A new . He then enrolled into Stanford University, from which he graduated with a BA degree in 1989. He had fantasies,. [58] In August 2012, immediately upon the conclusion of the early investor lock-up period, Thiel sold almost all of his remaining stake for between $19.27 and $20.69 per share, or $395.8 million, for a total of more than $1 billion. Thiel's most convincing justification for supporting Trump is that 40 or 50 . These days, most people aren't worried about Thiels lifestyle. In 2004, he co-founded Palantir Technologies, a private data analysis company, in which he serves as the Chairman and currently holds shares worth over $20 billion. Yungeen Ace's height, net worth, shooting, girlfriend, siblings, PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Kenyas #1 news app. They have one daughter, Elanor Kristina, whose details are not public. Jeremy Rytky: What you should know about Andrea Barber's ex-husband. He founded Thiel Capital Management in 1996. J.D. Vance.". Peter is a co-founder of the American online payment service company PayPal and the founder of American investment management and hedge fund company 'Clarium Capital.'. by the moderator of a discussion panel at the Venture Alpha West 2014 conference, Thiel said he wants to make progress on anti-aging research. They allegedly surprised their guests by exchanging vows. The couple currently resides in Foster City, and they are leading a lavish lifestyle. As a cause for the discrepancy he says: "I would say that we lived in a world in which bits were unregulated and atoms were regulated. Peter Andreas Thiel wears many hats - he is the managing partner in Founders Fund (a venture capital fund), the president of Clarium Capital (a global macro hedge fund), former CEO and one of the founders of PayPal, and the first outsider to invest in Facebook.An entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and hedge fund manager, Thiel sold his 10.2% stake in Facebook in 2012 but still sits on the . Thiel has been married to his husband, Matt Danzeisen, since 2017. Matt Danzeisen is the husband of Peter Thiel, American entrepreneur and billionaire co-founder of PayPal. In November 2017, he sold another 160,805 shares for $29 million, putting his holdings in Facebook at 59,913 Class A shares. [40] In Silicon Valley circles, Thiel is colloquially referred to as the "Don of the PayPal Mafia". However, he likely shares the wealth of his billionaire husband, which makes his potential net worth somewhere in the realm of $2.6 billion. He currently works in the company of his wife, Thiel Capital. [71][72], Through Valar Ventures, an internationally focused venture firm he cofounded with Andrew McCormack and James Fitzgerald,[73] Thiel was an early investor in Xero, a software firm headquartered in New Zealand. They eventually tied the knot in a private ceremony held in October 2017 in Vienna, Austria, actually on Peters 50th birthday, at which the guests were surprised when the couple revealed that they were going to exchange their wedding vows. [80], In May 2016, Thiel confirmed in an interview with The New York Times that he had paid $10 million in legal expenses to finance several lawsuits brought by others, including a lawsuit by Terry Bollea (Hulk Hogan) against Gawker Media for invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and infringement of personality rights after Gawker made sections of a sex tape involving Bollea public. Kindle Edition. When PayPal launched at a press conference in 1999, representatives from Nokia and Deutsche Bank sent $3 million in venture funding to Thiel using PayPal on their PalmPilots. Thiel, 51, cofounded PayPal alongside Max Levchin in 1998 and was an early investor in Facebook, according to Bloomberg. Peter is a co-owner of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund at the moment. Their nuptials took place in Vienna, Austria. Thiel, who is gay,[91][92] has supported mostly conservative gay rights causes such as the American Foundation for Equal Rights and GOProud. His bid was financially supported by Peter Thiel . He co-founded PayPal with Max Levchin and Luke Nosek in 1998, serving as chief executive officer until its sale to eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion. I thought it was going to be a pretty safe investment. Peter is also the founder of the Thiel Foundation, which includes three main projects Breakout Labs, Imitation, and the Theil Fellowship. Rape in all forms is a crime. [101] After Paul failed to secure the Republican nomination, Thiel contributed to the John McCain campaign. [23] At San Mateo High School, he read Ayn Rand, admired the optimism and anti-communism of then-President Ronald Reagan, and became valedictorian of his graduating class in 1985. 5 min read B illionaire investor Peter Thiel managed to grow less. Peter Thiel, the controversial billionaire tech founder and investor, has used his fortune to encourage kids to skip college, to back a lawsuit that bankrupted . By Bidhan Giri February 14, 2022 05:22 PM. Two years later, he co-founded the software company Confinity Inc. alongside Luke Nosek and Max Levchin, while they launched PayPal as a money transfer service at Confinityin 1999, along with Russel Simmons, Yu Pan, and Ken Howery. 0:00 / 27:55. [34] He then took a job as a derivatives trader in currency options at Credit Suisse. Well, his long-term partner Thiel is a German-American billionaire entrepreneur, political activist, & venture capitalist as well. Earlier, Thiel became Facebook's first outside investor when he acquired a 10.2% stake for $500,000 in August 2004. [111][112], By February 2022, Thiel was one of the largest donors to Republican candidates in the 2022 election campaign with more than $20.4 million in contributions. If you know Peter Thiel, you will also know about Matt Danzeisen, who happens to be Peter's husband. But, unlike his spouse, he seemingly enjoys life behind the scenes. Matt Danzeisen is the partner of famous American entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author Peter Andreas Thiel. Peter became known as a big supporter of the now US President Donald Trump, since he donated over $1.2 million to his presidential campaign in 2016. Kirkpatrick, David (8 June 2010). Since 2017, he has been married to the same woman. The Dallas Mavericks are set to take on the Utah Jazz in the first round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs. What Is Peter Thiel's Net Worth? Matt and Peter Thiel's wedding took place in Vienna, Austria. [161] He has been interviewed twice by Charlie Rose on PBS. [93] He invited conservative columnist and friend Ann Coulter to Homocon 2010 as a guest speaker. Republican senatorial candidate Blake Masters enjoys the financial and political support of his longtime friend, mentor, and billionaire business partner Peter Thiel, who is gay. [118], In December 2015, OpenAI announced that Thiel was one of their financial backers, a nonprofit company aimed at the safe development of artificial general intelligence. [179], The Straussian Moment, an essay written by Thiel in 2004, is sometimes considered to be a fundamental text in his political thinking, and was the subject of a 2019 interview at the Hoover Institution. "[129] In 2011, Thiel gave $1.25 million to the Seasteading Institute,[130][131] but resigned from its board the same year. By Belinda Luscombe. Thiel enrolled at Stanford Law School and graduated with a doctorate in law in 1992. September 21, 2021 12:40 PM EDT. [114][115], In 2006, Thiel provided $100,000 of matching funds to back the Singularity Challenge donation drive of the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence (now known as the Machine Intelligence Research Institute), a nonprofit organization that promotes the development of friendly artificial intelligence. Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund, holds hundred dollar bills as he speaks during the Bitcoin 2022 Conference at Miami Beach Convention Center on April. It's precisely because I respect journalists that I do not believe they are endangered by fighting back against Gawker. The couple has not disclosed the details of how or where they met. The 2nd takeaway was a real revelation for me. The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley's Pursuit of Power. The couple hasn't revealed the full details of their relationship or how long they have been together, but Peter Thiel and Matt Danzeisen were married in a private ceremony in October 2017 in Vienna, Austria. Girard, a Catholic, explained the role of sacrifice and the scapegoat mechanism in resolving social conflict, which appealed to Thiel as it offered a basis for his Christian faith without the fundamentalism of his parents. In the future, when we make our service available outside the U.S. and as Internet penetration continues to expand to all economic tiers of people, PayPal will give citizens worldwide more direct control over their currencies than they ever had before. Here, in this article, familiarize yourself with some unknown facts on Peter Thiel's husband, Matt Danzeisen. Some sources state that he came to this world between 1969 and 1973, so he could be in his late forties or early fifties. In October 2017, the couple exchanged vows. In September 2004, he published his first business book, entitled Zero To One: Notes On Startups, Or How To Build The Future, which topped The New York Times bestseller list. After PayPal, he founded Clarium Capital, a global macro hedge fund based in San Francisco. In 2005, he launched Founders Fund with PayPal partners Ken Howery and Luke Nosek. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk isn't buying in. I regret writing passages that have been taken to suggest otherwise. Peter was also the first outside investor in Facebook. [56] Thiel said of his investment: I was comfortable with them pursuing their original vision. He is also an investor, creditor and board member at the Fin Tech. Everything you should know, All about Marilyn Nault, NBA Legend Bill Russell's third wife, Naftali Kinuthia Says He Regrets Killing Lover Ivy Wangeci Using Axe: "Too Angry to Think", Kenya Power: Blackout Hits Most Parts of Country following System Disturbance, King Kalala Discloses Dad Gave Her KSh 3k, Kicked Her out of His Home, EU parliament chief urges Ukraine membership talks this year, KoT Angry with Moses Kuria for Claiming Davis Chirchir Will Lower Forex Rate to KSh 85 against Dollar: "Uongo". However, he has been married to his husband Matt Danzeisen since 2017. Thiel has a net worth of $2.5 billion, Forbes estimates. However, he could be in his late forties or early fifties. [105] After Fiorina dropped out, Thiel supported Donald Trump and became one of the California delegates for Trump's nomination. In spite of Danzeisen's secrecy, his fame has been rising recently. Peter Thiel, the PayPal co-founder who recently pledged $1.25 million to the campaign of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, apologized for comments he made about rape and diversity in a . AMA", "Peter Thiel: the billionaire tech entrepreneur on a mission to cheat death", "Who is Peter Thiel and why is he advising Donald Trump? Peter Thiel in 2016. [110], Thiel also has his own political-action committee, Free Forever, which is committed to supporting political candidates who support stricter border control, restrictive immigration policy, funds for veterans, and anti-interventionist foreign policy, among other things. [1], Thiel explained in a 2009 essay that he had come to "no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible", due in large part to welfare beneficiaries and women in general being "notoriously tough for libertarians" constituencies, and that he had focused efforts on new technologies (namely cyberspace, space colonization and seasteading) that could create "a new space for freedom" beyond current politics. Matt Danzeisen is the fortunate recipient of the title of Peter Thiel's husband. [21], In November 2011, the Thiel Foundation announced the creation of Breakout Labs, a grant-making program intended "to fill the funding gap that exists for innovative research outside the confines of an academic institution, large corporation, or government. Before that, he held the same position at the Bank of American Securities. [94] Coulter later dedicated her 2011 book, Demonic: How the Liberal Mob Is Endangering America, to Thiel. Luck is an atheistic word for God', "Peter Thiel on Creativity: Asperger's Promotes It, Business School Crushes It", "For Stanford Class of '94, a Gender Gap More Powerful Than the Internet", "Hyper-libertarian Facebook billionaire Peter Thiel's appalling plan to pay students to quit college", "Outflanked on Right, Coulter Seeks New Image", "Who is funding the marriage amendment fight? (adsbygoogle=window.adsbygoogle||[]).push({}); He has also worked in the position of an investment banker for Bank of America Securities. [135][136][137] According to Thiel, for many young people, college is the path to take when they have no idea what to do with their lives: I feel I was personally very guilty of this; you don't know what to do with your life, so you get a college degree; you don't know what you're going to do with your college degree, so you get a graduate degree. [51][52], In August 2004, Thiel made a $500,000 angel investment in Facebook for a 10.2% stake in the company and joined Facebook's board. He also invested in several notable ventures, including Facebook. Peter Thiel's Girardian moment came on 21st July 2016, the year after Girard died. Matt and Peter married in 2017 in Vienna, Austria. The venture capitalist has an estimated 10% stake as a co-founder of Palantir Technologies which has a value of $20 billion. Peter, 51, has a staggering net worth of $3.3 billion from his career as an American entrepreneur and political activist. Matt Danzeisen came to prominence after he married to his longtime boyfriend Peter Thiel. As previously mentioned, Matt is married to Peter Thiel, the co-founder of Paypal. Afterwards, Peter furthered his education at the Stanford Law School, from which he obtained his J.D. [84] He highlighted his support for the Intimate Privacy Protection Act, and said that athletes and business executives have the right to stay in the closet as long as they want to. In 2003, he launched Palantir Technologies, a big data analysis company, serving as its chairman since its inception. [166], Jonas Lscher stated in an interview with Basellandschaftliche Zeitung that he based the character Tobias Erkner in his novel Kraft ("Force") on Thiel. His parents and siblings, if any, are unknown. Tuko.co.ke published Andy Allo's story, an actress of Cameroonian descent who is also a model, singer-songwriter, director, and brand ambassador. PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel remains a general partner of venture capital firm Founders Fund, where he is involved in firm strategy and weighs in on its large investments. [125] Thiel also said that he is registered to be cryonically preserved, meaning that he would be subject to low-temperature preservation in case of his legal death in hopes that he might be successfully revived by future medical technology, and is signed up with the Alcor Life Extension Foundation. [170][171] He had visited the country on four occasions prior to his application for citizenship,[172] and had spent 12 days in New Zealand, fewer than the typical residency requirement of 1350 days. [citation needed] Clarium's assets under management grew after achieving a 40.3% return in 2007 to more than $7 billion by 2008, but fell as financial markets collapsed near the start of 2009. "[187], In 1995, the Independent Institute published The Diversity Myth: Multiculturalism and the Politics of Intolerance at Stanford, which Thiel co-authored along with fellow tech entrepreneur David O. Sacks, and with a foreword by the late Emory University historian Elizabeth Fox-Genovese. [19][20], Thiel played Dungeons & Dragons, was an avid reader of science fiction, with Isaac Asimov and Robert A. Heinlein among his favorite authors, and a fan of J. R. R. Tolkien's works, stating as an adult that he had read The Lord of the Rings over ten times.