Stanford, the Review and Girard

PayPal’s 2002 prospectus, a filing he signed as chief executive, gives his education plainly: a B.A. in philosophy from Stanford in 1989 and a J.D. from Stanford Law School in 1992. It says he traded derivatives for CS Financial Products, practiced securities law with Sullivan & Cromwell and, from September 1996, ran Thiel Capital Management. [1]

The Stanford Review’s own history says it was founded in 1987 by undergraduates led by Thiel, who was its first editor-in-chief. It argued against what it saw as campus political orthodoxy, including the university’s move to replace its Western Civilization requirement. [2]

Between law school and the law firm he clerked for a federal appeals judge in Atlanta. He interviewed for Supreme Court clerkships with Justices Kennedy and Scalia and was not hired, which reviewers of Chafkin’s book describe as a “quarter-life crisis”. He left Sullivan & Cromwell after about seven months. [3]

At Stanford he took classes with, and was deeply influenced by, René Girard, whose theory that people want things because others want them runs through his later talks and his Antichrist lectures. [3][4]

Several later figures in Thiel’s orbit came through the Review. The paper’s own history names David Sacks, later PayPal’s chief operating officer and co-author of Thiel’s first book, as a former editor-in-chief. [1]

Critics describe the Review as the seed of a network. Reporting on Thiel’s circle shows real overlap: people who worked with him at PayPal, Palantir, Thiel Capital and his foundation went on to political jobs. [2][3]

That is a network of friends and former employees, which is common in business and politics. It is not evidence of a coordinated plan, and many alumni disagree with each other.