Education

About PayPal Co-Founder Peter
Thiel: He's Gay
Dec 22 2007
Silicon Valley gossip blog Valleywag wants
to put the notion that Venture Capital is
scarce of gay people to rest, letting the
world know that PayPal co-founder Peter
Thiel is gay. They say that his sexuality is
part and parcel of his success:

"His disdain for convention, his quest to
overturn established rules. Like the
immigrant Jews who created Hollywood a
century ago, a gay investor has no way to
fit into the old establishment. That frees
him or her to build a different, hopefully
better system for identifying and
rewarding talented individuals, and
unleashing their work on the world."

Valleywag also discusses a widespread
unspoken homophobia in Silicon Valley
venture capital: "The clubby ranks of VCs
are mostly straight, white and male. They
instinctively prefer entrepreneurs who
remind them of themselves...VCs fund so
few of the companies they talk to that it's
hard to prove a case of discrimination;
there are a hundred reasons why they
might pass on any given startup. But gay
and lesbian entrepreneurs I've spoken to
agree it's real. PlanetOut, the gay and
lesbian portal, had to buy out Sequoia
Capital, which had come to regret its
investment in the company, before it
found braver VCs and eventually went
public. And really: How many out gay VCs
do you know?"

Valleywag feels the coverage on Thiel has
been unfair: "There's been a crush of
coverage on his $220 million Founders
Fund, which may well change the way
entrepreneurs get paid in the Valley. We
know about his mansion (he rents it --
clever!), his butler, his early-morning
jogs." So they say "what no one ever says
out loud." Whether he likes it or not.