The Contrarian Did What?
![The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley's Pursuit of Power by [Max Chafkin]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbb7c4f45-c2c6-47bb-8962-af6f902b0103_329x500.jpeg "The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley's Pursuit of Power by [Max Chafkin]")
Just finished The Contrarian, a profile of investor and entrepreneur Peter Thiel by Max Chafkin. I read Zero to One years ago, which was a book on Thiel’s Computer Science 183: Startup class at Stanford.
Reading The Contrarian made me look at Thiel differently. It’s interesting to learn more about his influence in Silicon Valley. From the Thiel Fellowship, investments, libertarian worldview and his portrayal in a famous HBO TV series.
I started reading the book before the news about Thiel and bitcoin. Founders Fund, which is run by Thiel, sold off its bitcoin holdings by March 2022, reaping $1.8 billion in profit. Thiel’s certainly one who never sits around, so the news was interesting. He’s very calculated with his investments. Many other investors, however, are still holding onto bitcoin.
I wonder what Thiel is holding - cash?
Check out the The Contrarian, it’s worth a read.