It definitely seems to be done on purpose, but they didn't tell all their friends (David Sacks for example). For Thiel this was a win-win thing, his companies a

It definitely seems to be done on purpose, but they didn't tell all their friends (David Sacks for example). For Thiel this was a win-win thing, his companies are all fine while hurting the competition and he gets to whine about government from new angles. Also quite in keeping with his soulless character