To be sure, Thiel could yet change his mind on political contributions for the 2024 cycle, although both sources familiar with his donation plans said they had heard Thiel declare on multiple recent occasions that he had withdrawn from U.S. In the 2022 election cycle, however, Thiel emerged as a potential Republican kingmaker, contributing more than $35 million to 16 federal-level Republican candidates, according to OpenSecrets. Thiel liked some of Trump's policies while in office but disapproved of the chaos surrounding the former reality TV star's presidency, said one of the sources, who is close to Thiel personally. In 2020, Thiel did not financially back Trump's re-election efforts, according to OpenSecrets. In 2012, Thiel backed libertarian lawmaker Ron Paul, and in 2016 he donated some $1.25 million to the campaign efforts of Trump, who is the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination. None said they intended to sit out the entire 2024 election cycle as a consequence. Several top donors have said they are hesitant to support Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is expected to announce a run for the White House soon, after he signed a bill into law that bans most abortions after six weeks in Florida. Thiel's decision underlines how the Republican Party’s swing to the right on social issues is alienating some prominent, business-minded donors. He has contributed around $50 million to state and federal political candidates and campaigns since 2000, and he was the 10th largest individual donor to either party in the 2022 midterm congressional elections, according to the non-profit OpenSecrets. The German-born entrepreneur has a fortune estimated at around $4.2 billion after co-founding PayPal (PYPL.O) and Palantir (PLTR.N) and investing early in Facebook (META.O). Thiel, who diverged from his Silicon Valley peers with his embrace of conservative causes, identifies as a supporter of libertarianism, a political philosophy that stresses the importance of individual freedoms. I don't pretend to agree with every plank in our party's platform, but fake culture wars only distract us from our economic decline, and nobody in this race is being honest about it except Donald Trump."įour political sources also told Reuters that Thiel is taking a step back from U.S. "But most of all I am proud to be an American. "I am proud to be gay," Thiel said on stage. When Thiel spoke at the 2016 Republican National Convention, he had more hope that the party would concentrate on economic issues, his business associate said. Thiel declined a Reuters request for an interview. Online news site Puck previously reported Thiel was most likely either to support Trump or sit out the primary. Thiel's plans for the Republican primary and general election have not been previously reported. ![]() innovation - a major issue for him - and competing with China, the business associate said. He believes Republicans are making a mistake in focusing on cultural flashpoints and should be more concerned with spurring U.S. Thiel came to this conclusion by late 2022, the sources said. cultural issues, said one of the sources, a business associate, citing abortion and restrictions on which bathrooms transgender students can use in schools as two examples. Thiel is unhappy with the Republican Party's focus on hot-button U.S. SAN FRANCISCO, April 26 (Reuters) - Tech billionaire and Republican megadonor Peter Thiel, an early backer of former President Donald Trump who later broke with him, has told associates he is not planning to donate to any political candidates in 2024, according to two people close to the businessman.
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