What does WSO think of Peter Thiel?
Peter Thiel said: “Monopoly is the condition of every successful business.”
Are Thiel and his philosophy actually smart or just lucky?
WSO has basically two seminal threads about Peter Thiel, but they are from 2012 and 2023. Some has changed since then, seeing as JD Vance is the US vice president largely due to Thiel.
For the unaware, Thiel could be called, and probably imagines himself to be, the billionaire anti Soros. Whilst Soros dismisses market fundamentalism, Thiel operated a hedge fund (i.e., Clarium Capital Management) based upon Austrian economics.
Thiel’s main economic philosophy is the “heterodox” view that monopoly is actually good. As this pertains to finance, in some sense this is helpful for financiers because a “rollup” deal is increasing market share by merging smaller firms. However, bankers also assist firms with spinoffs of business units, which reduce market concentration.
As to how Thiel views Wall Street, he worked at Credit Suisse, and is a VC, which is a part of finance. However, his anti-business escapades include his support for populist demagogues, such as JD Vance, who is notionally very anti-corporate, and the Dimes Square/Dasha Nekrasova crowd, who are anti-corporate.
He overall is a varied character; he is married to a man, he thinks he will attain Earthly immortality but is a Christian, he thinks democracy has failed, etc.
(This is not ChatGPT, I just have Asperger’s more severely than the rest of WSO.)
On monopolies, we can have a discussion about deadweight losses and excess economic profits, but the core boils down to this: the impact of a monopoly boils down to motivations of the people who run it. Some monopolies are not innovative and are the troll on the toll bridge who takes their share and never innovates, while others take their corner on the market and parlay that into developing new technologies. Competitive equilibria that are more balanced take some of the guesswork out of this and can lead to more balanced results, although in certain industries this can lead to underinvestment and a sea of laggards. I don't think most reasonable thinkers would entirely disagree with his critiques or views of Schumpeter's economics as articulated in Zero to One, but by the same token, few would entirely agree with his anarcho-capitalist conception of competition either.
I wouldn't say that pro-monopolist thinking is the cornerstone of Thiel's thinking either. It's really just anarcho-capitalism and minarchist railing against big government. Thiel is also very anti-democratic, or at least anti-universal franchise. His theory is that libertarianism was ruined by giving women the franchise to vote, because women invariably have a tendency for voting for expanding the welfare state and eroding libertarianism, so supporting his political orthodoxy requires a necessary component of libertarian chauvinism (viz. that men are biologically the only humans who by nature are capable of preserving a democratic libertarian state, so women must by necessity be deprived of the ability to vote).
The JD Vance anti-big tech thesis is overblown in common appraisals of Peter Thiel's motivations. He's really not all that anti-big tech as the King Midas of Silicon Valley venture capitalists. He has specific opinions on different companies, but it is very case by case and hardly something that can be easily distilled into a philosophy like "anti-big-tech." He's far more nuanced than that.
Gay German-American-Namibian Christian Ponce de Leon venture capitalist minarchist, anti-democratic megadonor is a bit of an unlikely bingo card.
Thiel is probably the most interesting man alive, if I had to pick. I have a lot of disagreements on his various candidates of choice and a dramatic difference in political worldview, but in a lot of ways he is every bit the super genius and man-behind-the-curtain master manipulator that Elon projects himself as. Palantir may be the most truly absurd company in existence (and has made me a lot of money) and Zero to One is a solid book.
Thiel's view on monopolies are that they should be the goal of businesses. That makes a whole lot of sense as a business owner. As a business owner, your job is to increase profitability and market share. That does not mean however that monopolies are good for consumers or workers or businesses adjacent to the monopoly or society at large.
Lol. You don't know that many people now do you?
lol difference of opinion makes you superior and condescending lol
Just talk like a human, god damn. Agree, disagree, whatever.
I'm with you @CRE . If I had an idol, it would probably be Thiel. Coming out as gay at the RNC in 2016 and backing Trump was insane. Thiel Fellow is an amazing and successful concept. FIDE Chess - National Master. Zero to One (and The Hard Thing About Hard Things) are required reading for anyone standing up a technology business. Incredible business success. Incredible influence in American politics. He's the man.
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Based on the most helpful WSO content, Peter Thiel is a polarizing figure whose ideas and actions spark both admiration and criticism. His philosophy, particularly the notion that "monopoly is the condition of every successful business," has been influential in shaping how some view market dynamics, especially in the tech and venture capital spaces. Thiel's belief in monopolies as a driver of innovation contrasts with traditional economic views that favor competition, making him a unique thinker in finance and business.
Thiel's background in finance, including his time at Credit Suisse and his role as a venture capitalist, ties him to Wall Street, but his broader ideological stances often position him as an outsider or even a critic of mainstream corporate and financial norms. His support for populist figures like JD Vance and his association with anti-corporate movements further complicate his relationship with traditional finance.
WSO discussions highlight Thiel's varied and sometimes contradictory persona—his embrace of Austrian economics, his belief in technological immortality, and his critiques of democracy all contribute to his enigmatic reputation. While some view him as a visionary, others see him as a contrarian whose success may owe as much to timing and luck as to his intellectual framework. His influence on venture capital and his role in shaping companies like PayPal and Palantir, however, are undeniable, cementing his legacy as a significant, if controversial, figure in finance and tech.
Sources: NY Times vs. the PE Industry, DAVOS MAN, Alright, seriously now: Stop going to JP Morgan Houston, The Street Before Christmas 2010, WSO, It Is Time To Talk
Loved his book Zero To One
i like his book
he's a bit of an odd geezer but some of his interviews are fascinating
Thiel's philosophy is incredibly mid. He gets more wrong than he does right. It isn't his ideas that make him an interesting person. It is his fidelity to his beliefs that is commendable.
He has been pretty consistent in how he engages with the world for decades now. That, in and of itself, is something.
Love Peter Thiel. Zero to One was one of the most influential books I read when I was younger.
Zero to One is amazing..
His successes have been pretty impressive and it would be hard to argue it's a series of lucky bets at this point.
His involvement in the UFO topic is quite interesting.
Disagree with him politically but the man is a VC genius.
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