Who is Peter Thiel?

Peter Thiel is leaving the board of directors of Facebook parent company Meta, the company said on Monday, adding that he will stay on until the company’s next shareholder meeting later this year, where he will not stand for reelection.

“Peter is truly an original thinker who you can bring your hardest problems and get unique suggestions,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement. “He has served on our board for almost two decades, and we’ve always known that at some point he would devote his time to other interests.”

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In a statement, Thiel said “It has been a privilege to work with one of the great entrepreneurs of our time. Mark Zuckerberg’s intelligence, energy, and conscientiousness are tremendous.”

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Who is Peter Thiel?

Peter Thiel is a Silicon Valley billionaire and advisor to former President Donald Trump. He joined Facebook’s board in 2005, a year after the company was founded. He, however, has been an increasingly polarising figure among the company’s directors due to his conservative politics.

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The 54-year-old also cofounded PayPal, led the company as CEO, and took it public. He also serves as a chairman at Palantir Technologies.

He has provided early funding for companies such as LinkedIn and Yelp. Thiel is a partner at Founders Fund, which is a Silicon Valley venture capital firm that has funded companies like SpaceX and Airbnb.

The New York Times and Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources close to Thiel, said after leaving Meta, he will focus on influencing November’s midterm elections and support candidates who would further Trump’s agenda.

With inputs from the Associated Press