# Peter Thiel Inner Circle The **tight, trusted core** around [[Peter Thiel]] — the lieutenants, protégés, fixers, and co-founders who carry his capital and his agenda. This is the small inner ring; the fuller directly-connected map (looser ties, institutions, co-investors) lives in [[Peter Thiel First Degree Connections]]. The patronage network as a whole is [[Thiel Network]]. > Roster, not biographies. Each name links to its own page where the deep profile lives. "Inner circle" here means: someone Thiel has personally cultivated, funded into position, or relies on as an operator — not merely a co-investor or acquaintance. ## Protégés in power | Person | Relationship | Position | |---|---|---| | [[JD Vance]] | Protégé; worked at [[Mithril Capital]]; Thiel bankrolled his Senate run | Vice President | | [[David Sacks]] | PayPal co-conspirator; decades-long ally | AI & Crypto Czar | | [[Michael Kratsios]] | Ex–Thiel Capital chief of staff | OSTP Director | | [[Ken Howery]] | [[Founders Fund]] co-founder; PayPal co-founder | Ambassador to Denmark (Greenland mandate) | | [[Jim O'Neill]] | Ex–[[Thiel Foundation]] | Deputy HHS Secretary | | [[Blake Masters]] | Co-author of *[[Zero to One]]*; Thiel's largest 2022 bet | Politician (AZ) | | Gregory Barbaccia | Ex-[[Palantir]] | Federal CIO | ## Capital lieutenants (the Thiel Capital umbrella) | Person | Role | |---|---| | [[Trae Stephens]] | [[Founders Fund]] partner; [[Anduril]] co-founder/chairman — the defense-tech node | | [[Ajay Royan]] | Co-founded [[Mithril Capital]] with Thiel | | Andrew McCormack | Co-founded [[Valar Ventures]] with Thiel | | James Fitzgerald | Co-founded [[Valar Ventures]] with Thiel | ## Palantir co-founders | Person | Role | |---|---| | [[Alex Karp]] | CEO; the philosophical front man | | [[Stephen Cohen]] | Co-founder, President | | [[Joe Lonsdale]] | Co-founder; now [[8VC]]; [[Dialog Society]] member | | [[Nathan Gettings]] | Co-founder | ## Fixers & ideological co-travelers | Person | Role | |---|---| | [[Aron D'Souza]] | Legal fixer — orchestrated the Gawker takedown; "Objection" AI-judge startup; [[Enhanced Games]] | | [[Curtis Yarvin]] | House neoreactionary; Thiel funded and platformed him | | [[Balaji Srinivasan]] | [[The Network State]]; co-investor in Thiel-orbit ventures | | [[Keith Rabois]] | PayPal Mafia; longtime Thiel ally and co-investor | ## The deniable layer - [[Dialog Society]] — the invite-only, off-the-record forum founded in Thiel's orbit (2006), exposed by a 2026 leak; where the inner circle meets sitting state power off the record. Members surfaced include [[Joe Lonsdale]], [[Scott Bessent]], [[Ted Cruz]], and [[Alexus Grynkewich]]. ## How to use this page vs. its neighbors - **This page** = the trusted core (people Thiel made or relies on). - [[Peter Thiel First Degree Connections]] = everyone directly connected, including looser ties, institutions, and co-investors. - [[Thiel Network]] = the patronage machine as a dynasty-level entity. - [[LittleSis Cross-Reference - Peter Thiel]] = the relational-database view. ## See Also - [[Peter Thiel]] — canonical biography - [[PayPal Mafia]] · [[PayPal Mafia to Pentagon Pipeline]] · [[Palantir Mafia]] - [[Revolving Door]] · [[Defense Tech Conflicts of Interest]] - [[Peter Thiel Dossier]]