Nope. Most funds have capital locked up. Ironically, this is kind of clear if you consider what would happen if the money was actually invested. You can't buy a

Nope. Most funds have capital locked up. Ironically, this is kind of clear if you consider what would happen if the money was actually invested. You can't buy a company, and then just sell off shares in tiny batches when your investors need it. This is also why the liquidity crunch in 2007 was so severe, tons of people had money in funds that were locked up (and tanking) so they just sold whatever they could. Btw, this is a huge problem with the industry. PE funds, VC funds, property funds...everyone does it. You even see mutual funds do lockups. It is a joke (and happens because liquidity transformation i.e. turning nonliquid stuff liquid is a fundamental part of the financial cyle). The industry approach on this also varies. When it comes time to calculate fees, you pay based on the full amount. When it comes time to calculate performance, the numbers often leave out the opportunity cost of having your money tied up in govt bonds for months whilst the manager dicks about milking transaction fees from portfolio companies. Tails you lose, heads they win. Seriously: the industry is a joke. Yes, some great people. The majority are not. Your average PE/VC fund is stocked with investment bankers who have never taken risk, have no idea about business (and, frankly, no interest), and are only concerned with earning fees on transactions. The number of people who are actually able investors is very small. They aren't being churned out of Oxbridge and Harvard (great salesman though...yes, and being able to convince a client they should thank you for a dogshit product is the real money maker...much easier than actually doing anything valuable). Fwiw, I actually think Thiel is fairly competent if overrated (it doesn't sound like the issue is with Thiel either). Contrary to the article, he doesn't have a particularly good reputation either. He had one or two great investments but his macro fund perf was relatively poor. Definitely nowhere near wizard status (as an investor, as tech bullshitter he is obv legendary).