Thiel was born in Frankfurt on 11 October 1967. His father was a chemical engineer whose work moved the family: to Cleveland, then to apartheid-era South Africa and South West Africa, now Namibia, then briefly back to Cleveland, before they settled in Foster City, California, when he was ten. He attended seven elementary schools, including a German-speaking one in South West Africa. [1][2]
He was a strong student and a serious chess player. A review of Max Chafkin’s biography notes he was ranked seventh nationally in his age group in middle school. He also played Dungeons & Dragons, where he liked to be the dungeon master. [1]
His company biography skips most of this and starts with the businesses. [3]
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