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Can someone explain to the people that don't understand who "Peter Thiel" is and what this new book is about? I hope, I don't offend anyone by not knowing, I us

Can someone explain to the people that don't understand who "Peter Thiel" is and what this new book is about? I hope, I don't offend anyone by not knowing, I usually just use Hacker News to get some News articles and am not too much involved with YC and the whole community behind HN...

gorkemyurt 12y ago
Facebook made him really rich http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/20/technology/facebook-peter-thiel/ http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/20/technology/facebook-peter-th...
- jey 12y ago
  He was already really rich (see: PayPal).
- skizm 12y ago
  Damn he sold all those shares at the bottom of the dip. $19 - $20... facebook is now at $74. His shares would be worth more than $3.5 billion now if he held on to them. Of course the market could behave differently if he holds, but still fun to imagine.
  - staunch 12y ago
    He also managed a $8 billion dollar hedge fund that failed spectacularly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarium_Capital http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarium_Capital
    - eruditely 12y ago
      So what? It's a few big ones that matter. Why all this negativity?
      - staunch 12y ago
        He claimed to know things about the economy and raised $8 billion to capitalize on his ideas. Turns out he was full of shit. He had no idea what he was doing and lost huge amounts of money over years. He wasn't just bad he was arrogantly clueless. Now he's claiming to know things about the economy again.
        eruditely 12y ago
        I'm going to save this comment with your image. Plenty of great people have turned out to be incorrect or incorrect at the wrong times. That's ok. This comment's structural epistemology is so bad.
        staunch 12y ago
        Few have been more wrong and less humbled by the experience.
        DaniFong 12y ago
        Ok, so usually I really like your posts, and I understand how you can believe this because it is written across the internet in some difficult to assess ways, but I believe you are very mistaken about this. During and after the liquidity crunch of 2008 and the recession, Clarium reduced in capital dramatically primarily because people were withdrawing their capital, not due to losses. He did not lose $8 billion, instead, most of the capital under management was drawn down, as it was with many hedge funds. The annual returns of Clarium were volatile, but overall, impressive. Here is a list for the returns pre 2011 (after which reporting was kept to the remaining investors -- rumor is that it has done well but this is not public). 2002: 29.4% 2003: 65.6% 2004: 5.6% 2005: 57.1% 2006: -7.8% 2007: 40.3% 2008: -4.5% 2009: -25% 2010: -23% From: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-M95ijQ3Mq0/Sw0Tax_AoTI/AAAAAAAAACU/kZslYccJB4c/s1600/Clarium+3.jpg http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-M95ijQ3Mq0/Sw0Tax_AoTI/AAAAAAAAAC... http://www.hedgefundinsight.org/the-limits-to-fundamental-conviction-clarium-capital http://www.hedgefundinsight.org/the-limits-to-fundamental-co... and from: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-12/clarium-hedge-fund-shrinks-90-as-thiel-has-third-losing-year.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-12/clarium-hedge-fund-... Here is a good chart, for pre-2010 data. http://www.marketfolly.com/2009/02/peter-thiels-clarium-capital-ken.html http://www.marketfolly.com/2009/02/peter-thiels-clarium-capi... Even despite the tough losses sustained through 2008, 2009 and 2010, the fund returned, net, from October 2002 (fund start date) to the end of 2010, 2.53x. That's an 8.25 year, aggregated annual return of 11.9%. http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=%281.294+*+1.656+*+1.056+*+1.571+*+%281+-+0.078%29+*+1.403+*+%281+-+0.045%29+*+%281+-+0.25%29+*+%281+-+0.23%29%29%5E%281%2F8.25%29 http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=%281.294+*+1.656+*+1.05... For comparison, the S&P 500 over the same time period rose from a deep dip of about 800 to about 1260, a rise of 57%, for an aggregate annual return of about 5.6%. It was volatile too, without the strong gains to buffer the losses. If you had your money in Clarium the entire time, you'd be well ahead, even net of fees -- you would have more than doubled your money (2.14x return net). Comparing the two cases, if you held Clarium vs S&P 500, you'd have 36% more capital. Hardly a fund that's full of it, and has no idea what it's doing. The tragedy of Clarium is that money flooded in in 2007 and early 2008, and then largely exited during 2009 and 2010, forcing a major unwind at the worst time. Macro-economically, Clarium was correct about the recovery being slow and drawn out. But the financial world, in particular their bets against the dollar, were not born out in that timeframe.
deleted 12y ago
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dawayne 12y ago
Peter Thiel co-founded PayPal. The book is based on a class about startups he taught at Stanford.
Axsuul 12y ago
Among other things, the lead investor character on HBO's Silicon Valley is said to be based on Peter Thiel.
- maaarghk 12y ago
  Ah. The most useful reply by some distance. And now what I just read makes more sense.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
vixin 12y ago
Private link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Thiel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Thiel
Multics 12y ago
Also, he tends to be contrarian in his posture towards investments. For example, he's backed anti-ageing research[1], which is obviously viable, but seen by many as oddball. He was the first outside investor in Facebook[2]... And perhaps most well known for co-founding PayPal with Elon Musk and Max Levchin. There's a ton of vids with him being interviewed on YouTube, if you want the gist of the guy. I've bookmarked this one for later. A Conversation with Peter Thiel and Niall Ferguson[3]. (Niall Ferguson has done some fine work, as well) [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Thiel#Anti-aging_research http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Thiel#Anti-aging_research [2] In the intro section: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Thiel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Thiel [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exfbmY7mg8s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exfbmY7mg8s
icebraining 12y ago
Here's the IAmA he did recently: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2g4g95/peter_thiel_technology_entrepreneur_and_investor/ http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2g4g95/peter_thiel_tec...
pbreit 12y ago
Not offensive, just lame. Google or Wikipedia would answer your question in 30 seconds.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
conectorx 12y ago
Plus, he is in the Billderberg Group...just sayin' don't hate

gorkemyurt 12y ago

Facebook made him really rich http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/20/technology/facebook-peter-thiel/ http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/20/technology/facebook-peter-th...

jey 12y ago
He was already really rich (see: PayPal).
skizm 12y ago
Damn he sold all those shares at the bottom of the dip. $19 - $20... facebook is now at $74. His shares would be worth more than $3.5 billion now if he held on to them. Of course the market could behave differently if he holds, but still fun to imagine.
- staunch 12y ago
  He also managed a $8 billion dollar hedge fund that failed spectacularly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarium_Capital http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarium_Capital
  - eruditely 12y ago
    So what? It's a few big ones that matter. Why all this negativity?
    - staunch 12y ago
      He claimed to know things about the economy and raised $8 billion to capitalize on his ideas. Turns out he was full of shit. He had no idea what he was doing and lost huge amounts of money over years. He wasn't just bad he was arrogantly clueless. Now he's claiming to know things about the economy again.
      - eruditely 12y ago
        I'm going to save this comment with your image. Plenty of great people have turned out to be incorrect or incorrect at the wrong times. That's ok. This comment's structural epistemology is so bad.
        staunch 12y ago
        Few have been more wrong and less humbled by the experience.
      - DaniFong 12y ago
        Ok, so usually I really like your posts, and I understand how you can believe this because it is written across the internet in some difficult to assess ways, but I believe you are very mistaken about this. During and after the liquidity crunch of 2008 and the recession, Clarium reduced in capital dramatically primarily because people were withdrawing their capital, not due to losses. He did not lose $8 billion, instead, most of the capital under management was drawn down, as it was with many hedge funds. The annual returns of Clarium were volatile, but overall, impressive. Here is a list for the returns pre 2011 (after which reporting was kept to the remaining investors -- rumor is that it has done well but this is not public). 2002: 29.4% 2003: 65.6% 2004: 5.6% 2005: 57.1% 2006: -7.8% 2007: 40.3% 2008: -4.5% 2009: -25% 2010: -23% From: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-M95ijQ3Mq0/Sw0Tax_AoTI/AAAAAAAAACU/kZslYccJB4c/s1600/Clarium+3.jpg http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-M95ijQ3Mq0/Sw0Tax_AoTI/AAAAAAAAAC... http://www.hedgefundinsight.org/the-limits-to-fundamental-conviction-clarium-capital http://www.hedgefundinsight.org/the-limits-to-fundamental-co... and from: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-12/clarium-hedge-fund-shrinks-90-as-thiel-has-third-losing-year.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-12/clarium-hedge-fund-... Here is a good chart, for pre-2010 data. http://www.marketfolly.com/2009/02/peter-thiels-clarium-capital-ken.html http://www.marketfolly.com/2009/02/peter-thiels-clarium-capi... Even despite the tough losses sustained through 2008, 2009 and 2010, the fund returned, net, from October 2002 (fund start date) to the end of 2010, 2.53x. That's an 8.25 year, aggregated annual return of 11.9%. http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=%281.294+*+1.656+*+1.056+*+1.571+*+%281+-+0.078%29+*+1.403+*+%281+-+0.045%29+*+%281+-+0.25%29+*+%281+-+0.23%29%29%5E%281%2F8.25%29 http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=%281.294+*+1.656+*+1.05... For comparison, the S&P 500 over the same time period rose from a deep dip of about 800 to about 1260, a rise of 57%, for an aggregate annual return of about 5.6%. It was volatile too, without the strong gains to buffer the losses. If you had your money in Clarium the entire time, you'd be well ahead, even net of fees -- you would have more than doubled your money (2.14x return net). Comparing the two cases, if you held Clarium vs S&P 500, you'd have 36% more capital. Hardly a fund that's full of it, and has no idea what it's doing. The tragedy of Clarium is that money flooded in in 2007 and early 2008, and then largely exited during 2009 and 2010, forcing a major unwind at the worst time. Macro-economically, Clarium was correct about the recovery being slow and drawn out. But the financial world, in particular their bets against the dollar, were not born out in that timeframe.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

dawayne 12y ago

Peter Thiel co-founded PayPal. The book is based on a class about startups he taught at Stanford.

Axsuul 12y ago

Among other things, the lead investor character on HBO's Silicon Valley is said to be based on Peter Thiel.

maaarghk 12y ago
Ah. The most useful reply by some distance. And now what I just read makes more sense.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

vixin 12y ago

Private link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Thiel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Thiel

Multics 12y ago

Also, he tends to be contrarian in his posture towards investments. For example, he's backed anti-ageing research[1], which is obviously viable, but seen by many as oddball. He was the first outside investor in Facebook[2]... And perhaps most well known for co-founding PayPal with Elon Musk and Max Levchin. There's a ton of vids with him being interviewed on YouTube, if you want the gist of the guy. I've bookmarked this one for later. A Conversation with Peter Thiel and Niall Ferguson[3]. (Niall Ferguson has done some fine work, as well) [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Thiel#Anti-aging_research http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Thiel#Anti-aging_research [2] In the intro section: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Thiel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Thiel [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exfbmY7mg8s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exfbmY7mg8s

icebraining 12y ago

Here's the IAmA he did recently: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2g4g95/peter_thiel_technology_entrepreneur_and_investor/ http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2g4g95/peter_thiel_tec...

pbreit 12y ago

Not offensive, just lame. Google or Wikipedia would answer your question in 30 seconds.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

conectorx 12y ago

Plus, he is in the Billderberg Group...just sayin' don't hate