Peter Thiel’s $100,000 offer to skip college is more popular than ever
Peter Thiel is trying harder than ever to get young people to skip college. Since 2010, Thiel, an early Facebook investor and a founder of PayPal Holdings, has offered to pay students $100,000 to drop out of school to start companies or nonprofits. Early on, he met intense criticism.
Some accused Thiel, who holds philosophy and law degrees from Stanford, of hypocrisy. Others said it was wrong to discourage young people from finishing their education. Former Harvard University President Lawrence Summers called it the “single most misdirected bit of philanthropy in this decade." In the next few weeks, Thiel’s program will announce 20 new fellows, chosen from an applicant pool that is bigger than ever.
Winners plan to launch companies in hot areas including artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies, according to executives of the program. Since its first fellows were chosen in 2011, Thiel’s program has backed 271 people. Those involved in the effort say they’ve had successes and frustrations.
Along the way, they’ve discovered common traits that help them do a better job identifying talented individuals. Some big successes include Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, the blockchain network; Laura Deming, a key figure in venture investing in aging and longevity; Austin Russell, who runs self-driving technologies company Luminar Technologies; and Paul Gu, co-founder of consumer lending company Upstart. When he began his fellowship, Thiel, a vocal libertarian who was an active supporter of Donald Trump in 2016, was disenchanted with leading colleges and convinced they weren’t best suited for many young people.
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