Business | Schumpeter

Peter Thiel, scourge of Silicon Valley

A venture capitalist reinvents the military-industrial complex

FOR A MAN who wants to live for ever, Peter Thiel has already done enough in his 53 years to leave mere mortals exhausted—and mostly frustrated. The venture capitalist, techno-Utopian and scourge of the liberal left is a myriad of contradictions.

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “The Midas of Mordor”

The mess Merkel leaves behind

From the September 25th 2021 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Business

Overlapping  shadows of Donald Trump, a man and a women

Corporate America’s diversity wars are just getting started

Donald Trump’s attacks on DEI are causing huge headaches for bosses

Larry Ellison’s face feeding a sand timer with some planet and stars elements above. Two small figures on the right of the it looking scared.

What Elon Musk should learn from Larry Ellison

The founder of Oracle has demonstrated remarkable staying power


Kylian Mbappe of Real Madrid dribbles the ball during the LaLiga EA Sports match between Real Valladolid v Real Madrid.

Football clubs are making more money than ever. Players not so much

For both teams and their top stars, it helps to have a brand


The allure of the company town

Lego, Corning and the survival of an old idea

From cribs to carriers, high-end baby products are in vogue

Demographic and technological changes are making infancy more expensive

No one gains from American tariffs on cars from Mexico and Canada

Donald Trump’s levy will hit his country’s carmakers hardest