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Peter Thiel donating $1.25 million to Donald Trump’s campaign

Posted at 10:29 PM, Oct 16, 2016
and last updated 2016-10-16 22:29:05-04

NEW YORK — Peter Thiel is putting his money where his mouth is.

The billionaire PayPal cofounder is donating $1.25 million to Donald Trump’s campaign, according to a source close to Thiel.

Thiel has been a vocal supporter of Trump — one of the most prominent in Silicon Valley. He spoke at the Republican National Convention and made history when he declared on stage that he was proud to be gay.

Thiel’s donation will be given through Super PACs and directly to Trump’s campaign, according to the source. This is the first time Thiel will be donating directly to Trump. The donation was first reported by the New York Times.

Thiel is famous in Silicon Valley for holding extreme, counterintuitive views. He is a rabid libertarian who has invested money to make people immortal, develop floating cities away from the reach of governments and convince young people not to go to college, among other endeavors.

He has become increasingly controversial, after news broke earlier this year that he had funded Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker, ultimately forcing the media company into bankruptcy.

Thiel was one of the earliest investors in Facebook and currently sits on the company’s board. He has also made investments in Zynga, Reddit and Asana.