Life and power: Frankfurt to PayPal to Palantir, Gawker, Vance and Antichrist lectures

Frankfurt, Stanford Review, PayPal, Facebook, Palantir, Gawker/Hogan, Trump 2016, Vance, Antichrist lectures

Peter Thiel portrait used on the life-and-power nest gateway. — Nest gateway cover — see the full guide for chapter photography and credits.

RECORD / AT A GLANCE

Documented core; contested theories mapped

Documented: Frankfurt childhood and U.S. path, Stanford Review and The Diversity Myth, PayPal founding/CEO years, early Facebook investment, Palantir founding and government contracts, Gawker/Hogan financing, 2016 RNC speech, Vance/Masters support, NZ citizenship controversy, Antichrist lecture coverage. Contested master-database, FBI-informant, Epstein-partnership and Antichrist-as-program theories are argued in the full guide against a critical path — not settled here. Biography and social-network analysis live on the collection hub.

This page is a maintained nest gateway. The full illustrated product is the deep guide. Biography and social-network analysis stay on The Thiel Files hub — they are not duplicated here.

Open the full guide ↗ Hub biography ↓ Social network ↓

SPINE DATES (NEST)

Load-bearing dates.

Short dated list for the nest. Full timeline, critical path and theories live in the deep guide.

11 Oct 1967

Born in Frankfurt

Peter Andreas Thiel is born in Frankfurt, West Germany.

1980s–1990s

Stanford Review

Founds the Stanford Review; later co-authors The Diversity Myth (1995).

Dec 1998

Confinity

Co-founds Confinity; later merges with X.com into PayPal.

2003–04

Palantir / Facebook

Co-founds Palantir; leads early Facebook investment and joins the board for a period.

2009

Democracy essay

Publishes the Cato essay arguing freedom and democracy had become incompatible.

2016

Gawker / RNC

Hogan verdict and Thiel financing revelation; speaks at the Republican National Convention.

2022–24

Vance / Masters

Major backing for J.D. Vance and Blake Masters Senate campaigns.

2020s–2026

Lectures / Iran coverage

Public Antichrist lectures; 2026 reporting on friction with Trump over Iran policy.

FULL GUIDE

Continue in the illustrated file.

Story chapters, critical path, rival theories, people and the full timeline are in Life and power. Older short case URLs under this hub remain pending conversion and are not this nest.