Peter Thiel

B.A. in philosophy from Stanford University (1989)
Co-Founder of PayPal, President of Clarium Capital, Board member of Facebook, Chairman of Plantir, and Chair of Mithril Capital

Peter Thiel’s philosophical background has contributed greatly to his success as an investor and businessman. At Stanford, he was introduced to the philosophy of René Girard. Girard’s “mimetic theory,” which suggests that most human behavior is based upon imitation, had a profound impact upon Theil’s perspectives and actions.

You can hear Thiel speak about Girard in detail here:

You can also listen to Thiel detail his early experiences as a philosophy student here:


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1 Comment

  1. Good information. There are also other businessmen who studied philosophy, such as Carl Icahn, Peter Lynch, Jim Rogers, Guo Guangchang …

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