Peter Thiel's political hiatus is over. Here's where his money's flowing now.
NEWS | 30 August 2025
Thiel recently said that he's "schizophrenic" about political giving, saying that "it's incredibly important, and it's incredibly toxic." Thiel recently said that he's "schizophrenic" about political giving, saying that "it's incredibly important, and it's incredibly toxic." AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell Thiel recently said that he's "schizophrenic" about political giving, saying that "it's incredibly important, and it's incredibly toxic." AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell lighning bolt icon An icon in the shape of a lightning bolt. lighning bolt icon An icon in the shape of a lightning bolt. Impact Link This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Peter Thiel's vacation from politics is over. The conservative tech billionaire made his first publicly disclosed political contribution in two and a half years in February, giving $852,200 to House Speaker Mike Johnson's joint fundraising committee. That group, called "Grow the Majority," then distributed almost 90% of that money to other campaigns. All told, Thiel's money has now made its way into the coffers of the Republican National Committee, House Republicans' main campaign arm, over a dozen state parties, and nearly 30 GOP House members. It's a significant shift for Thiel. After spending tens of millions of dollars on the 2022 midterms, the PayPal and Palantir cofounder came away from the experience apparently disillusioned with politics. During that cycle, Thiel gave $15 million to a super PAC supporting JD Vance when the now-Vice President was running for Senate in Ohio. He also gave $20 million to a super PAC that backed Blake Masters' Senate bid in Arizona. Masters ended up losing, while Vance won a hard-fought race. Thiel later told multiple interviewers that he was done spending money on politics, at least for the moment. In 2024, he even gave an interview to The Atlantic in part to lock himself into not donating to any candidate that year. "By talking to you, it makes it hard for me to change my mind," he told the interviewer. "My husband doesn't want me to give them any more money, and he's right." 'I go back and forth' That doesn't mean Thiel's stopped being a sought-after donor. During the 2024 campaign, Vance publicly urged Thiel to "get off the sidelines" and spend money to back Trump. Related stories Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know "I'm going to keep on talking to Peter and persuading him that — you know he's obviously been exhausted by politics a little bit — but he's going to be really exhausted by politics if we lose and if Kamala Harris is president," Vance said at the time. No public donations ever emerged that year, despite the fact that he spent more than $1 million supporting Trump in 2016. Back then, he was one of the few major Silicon Valley figures to back Trump. Nonetheless, Thiel said last year that he supported Trump, and he predicted that the election wouldn't be close. "I've decided not to donate any money politically, but I'm supporting them in every other way possible," he said at the time. A spokesperson for Thiel did not respond to a request for comment about why the tech billionaire changed his mind. During a recent interview with The New York Times' Ross Douthat, Thiel described himself as "schizophrenic" about political giving. "I think it's incredibly important, and it's incredibly toxic," Thiel said. "So I go back and forth." Here's where Thiel's money went:
Author: Bryan Metzger.
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