Peter Thiel Is Returning To Disrupt SF

We’re thrilled to announce that legendary founder and investor Peter Thiel will be joining us on stage at Disrupt SF 2014. From PayPal to Founders Fund, Thiel has set the bar for success in Silicon Valley, and this will be the second time he’s spoken at our conference. We’re glad he’s back.

Thiel made the first outside investment in Facebook in 2004, and was an early investor in LinkedIn in 2003. Through a combination of his personal financing and the Founders Fund, he’s also helped fund the likes of SpaceX, Yelp, RoboteX, Quora and Spotify.

More recently, Thiel and the Founders Fund led a $250 million funding round for Airbnb in 2012, and played a part in Airbnb’s $326 million funding round in 2013. The Founders Fund has also taken a shine to Lyft, leading a $15 million round in 2013, and participating in Lyft’s $250 million round in April 2014.

Thiel is also the founder and president of Clarium Capital Management, a global macro hedge fund, and a partner at Valar Ventures, an internationally-focused venture capital firm that invests exclusively in companies outside the United States.

And he’s built his share of startups, too. Most notably, Thiel co-founded PayPal in 1998, and served as the company’s Chairman and CEO until 2002 when he successfully oversaw the sale of PayPal to eBay for $1.5 billion. His investment in Facebook landed him on the company’s Board of Directors, where he’s served as a board member since 2004. Thiel also co-founded Palantir Technologies in 2004, which helps companies integrate, visualize and analyze data.

This will be Thiel’s second visit to the Disrupt stage. In 2011, Thiel and his PayPal co-founder Max Levchin stopped by Disrupt to talk about the book the two co-authored, as well as the changing face of innovation, disruption, and technology in the U.S.

Come hear Thiel talk about these topics, as well as his new book  “Zero to One: Notes on Startups or, How to Build the Future” at Disrupt SF 2014, which is slated for September 8-10 at San Francisco’s Pier 48. If you’re interested in joining us, tickets are now on sale at extra early bird pricing levels. And if you’re interested in sponsoring the event, reach out to our sponsorship team for more info.

Anthony Domanico contributed to this article.