Chicago Tribune

Commentary: The dark undertones of conservative Peter Thiel’s growing political donations

Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund, holds hundred dollar bills as he speaks during the Bitcoin 2022 Conference at Miami Beach Convention Center on April 7, 2022, in Miami, Florida.

Since 1997, billionaire entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and conservative political activist Peter Thiel has donated tens of millions of dollars to political candidates and causes in U.S. elections, the nonpartisan nonprofit Open Secrets revealed. In the 2022 midterm elections alone, he donated around $32.5 million to the Senate campaigns and political action committees of far-right conservatives J.D. Vance in Ohio and Blake Masters in Arizona.

While significant on its own terms, the mounting intensity of Thiel’s political spending traces his evolution from an economic and

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Chicago Tribune

Chicago Tribune3 min read
Review: ‘Illinoise’ Puts Movement To The Music Of Sufjan Stevens — It’s Not The Usual Broadway Show
NEW YORK — Sufjan Stevens’ hipper-than-thou music defies easy categorization. It goes by chamber pop, folk pop, electronica and numerous other descriptions inadequate for its lushly orchestrated romanticism, as topped by lyrics at once esoteric and e
Chicago Tribune3 min readCrime & Violence
Slain Chicago Police Officer Luis Huesca Mourned At Visitation: ‘An Attack On The Entire Community’
CHICAGO — More than 200 police officers, relatives and members of the public stood in line Sunday outside Blake-Lamb Funeral Home in Oak Lawn waiting for Chicago police Officer Luis Huesca’s visitation services to begin. Huesca, 30, was shot and fata
Chicago Tribune6 min read
Caleb Williams And Rome Odunze Fearlessly Vow To Raise Expectations For Bears: ‘What’s The Reason To Duck?’
CHICAGO — Caleb Williams arrived at Halas Hall on Friday, his first full day as the new Chicago Bears quarterback, with the same level of excitement and self-assuredness he has been channeling through most of his football life. Williams is nothing if

Related Books & Audiobooks