The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley's Pursuit of Power
“Max Chafkin’s The Contrarian is much more than a consistently shocking biography of Peter Thiel, the most important investor in tech and a key supporter of the Donald Trump presidency. It’s also a disturbing history of Silicon Valley that will make you reconsider the ideological foundations of America’s relentless engine of creative destruction.”—Brad Stone, author of The Everything Store and Amazon Unbound
Since the days of the dot-com bubble in the late 1990s, no industry has made a greater impact on the world than Silicon Valley. And few individuals have done more to shape Silicon Valley than Peter Thiel. The billionaire venture capitalist and entrepreneur has been a behind-the-scenes operator influencing countless aspects of our contemporary way of life, from the technologies we use every day to the delicate power balance between Silicon Valley, Wall Street, and Washington. But despite his power and the ubiquity of his projects, no public figure is quite so mysterious.
In the first major biography of Thiel, Max Chafkin traces the trajectory of the innovator's singular life and worldview, from his upbringing as the child of immigrant parents and years at Stanford as a burgeoning conservative thought leader to his founding of PayPal and Palantir, early investment in Facebook and SpaceX, and relationships with fellow tech titans Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Eric Schmidt. The Contrarian illuminates the extent to which Thiel has sought to export his values to the corridors of power beyond Silicon Valley, including funding the lawsuit that destroyed the blog Gawker and strenuously backing far-right political candidates, notably Donald Trump for president in 2016.
Eye-opening and deeply reported, The Contrarian is a revelatory biography of a one-of-a-kind leader and an incisive portrait of a tech industry whose explosive growth and power is both thrilling and fraught with controversy.
The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley's Pursuit of Power by Max Chafkin is a captivating and thought-provoking exposé of the rise of Peter Thiel, the enigmatic co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund. Chafkin delves into the life and career of this controversial figure, shedding light on his unique worldview, his unconventional investment strategies, and his profound impact on the tech industry and beyond.
Through extensive research and interviews with key players in Thiel's orbit, Chafkin paints a vivid portrait of a man who has consistently defied expectations and challenged the status quo. From his early days as a chess prodigy to his role in the founding of PayPal, Thiel has demonstrated a knack for identifying and exploiting market inefficiencies, often to the chagrin of his competitors.
Chafkin also explores Thiel's libertarian political beliefs and his foray into venture capitalism, where he has backed an eclectic mix of companies, from space exploration ventures to artificial intelligence startups. Thiel's contrarian approach to investing has yielded impressive returns, cementing his reputation as a visionary investor.
Beyond his business ventures, Thiel is also known for his outspoken views on topics ranging from technology and economics to politics and culture. Chafkin examines the controversies surrounding Thiel, including his controversial support for Donald Trump and his involvement in the "Gamergate" harassment campaign.
The Contrarian is a well-researched and insightful biography that provides a nuanced and comprehensive understanding of Peter Thiel, a complex and influential figure who has left an indelible mark on the tech industry and the broader cultural landscape. Chafkin's book is a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of technology, business, and power.
Rating:
