GOP Donor Peter Thiel Reportedly Sitting Out 2024 Race—Despite Donating $35 Million Last Year

Topline

Billionaire entrepreneur Peter Thiel told business associates he won’t donate to any candidates in the 2024 elections because he’s unhappy with the GOP’s culture war focus, Reuters reported Wednesday, despite making monumental donations to Republicans as recently as last year.

Peter Thiel offers a pair of hundred dollar bills to attendees during a keynote address at the … [+] Bitcoin Conference on April 7, 2022, in Miami Beach, Florida. Thiel is reportedly planning not to donate to any political candidates in the 2024 election, despite being a major GOP donor in recent years.

Key Facts

Thiel, a libertarian who cofounded PayPal, data startup Palantir and Founders Fund, has given nearly $40 million to Republican candidates and causes since 2018 and worked to back candidates who focus on addressing the country’s economic status.

But he decided late last year not to donate to U.S. political candidates in next year’s cycle, with unnamed business associates telling Reuters Thiel believed Republicans should worry about innovation and competing with China rather than culture issues.

The unnamed business associates who spoke to Reuters about the situation said Thiel identified issues like abortion and transgender bathroom rights as examples.

Forbes attempted to reach Thiel for comment but he did not immediately respond.

Key Background

In the past, Thiel has made himself a crucial donor for Republican candidates, giving millions of dollars in elections dating back to 2000. Just last year, 12 of the 16 federal-level candidates who received a share of Thiel’s $35 million in donations won their races, according to data from Open Secrets. Some $20 million of those dollars went to a political action committee backing Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters, who is often regarded as Thiel’s protégé, though Masters ultimately lost to incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly (D). Thiel spent at least $10 million backing another protégé, J.D. Vance, in 2022, helping lead to his victory in the Ohio Senate race. Thiel also donated $1.25 million to support Trump in 2016 via super political action committees and direct donations, and made a number of significantly smaller donations in 2018, but he did not donate to Trump’s re-election campaign, according to Open Secrets. He was a Trump delegate in California at one point, but the associates who spoke to Reuters said Thiel was supportive of some of Trump’s policies “but disapproved of the chaos” around his administration.

Tangent

Thiel’s hesitancy to support candidates in the upcoming election is not a one-off situation: Republican megadonors have been searching for a candidate to back who they believe can beat Trump, but many are still unsure of who that is. Citadel CEO Kenneth Griffin, another billionaire Republican donor, was expected to be a huge contributor to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, an expected challenger to Trump. But The New York Times reported that Griffin is still evaluating where to put his support in the Republican primary race after being upset with DeSantis’ stances on certain issues, including abortion bans and the Russian-Ukraine war. Andy Sabin, chairman of Sabin Metal Corp and former Trump donor, has also recently expressed hesitancy around supporting DeSantis, telling Reuters “if it wasn’t for abortion and the book-banning, there would be no question I would support him.” Nikki Haley, former South Carolina governor and Trump Administration official, has received early support from megadonors like oil magnate Harold Hamm, investment banker Aryeh Bourkoff and New Balance owner Jim Davis, according to reporting from CNBC.

Surprising Fact

Though he’s largely donated to Republican candidates, campaigns and causes, Thiel has also donated to Democrats in recent years, giving California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s campaign $56,400 in 2015 and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) $2,700 in 2016.

Forbes Valuation

We estimate Thiel to be worth $4.2 billion.