Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorVenture capitalist and right-wing booster Peter Thiel, after 17 years on the board of Facebook — now Meta Platforms — will step down as director of the internet giant.Thiel joined Meta’s board in April 2005, after he had invested $500,000 in the then-fledgling Facebook startup.Thiel is leaving Meta in order to “focus on influencing November’s midterm elections,” the New York Times reported, citing an anonymous source. “Mr.
Thiel sees the midterms as crucial to changing the direction of the country, this person said, and he is backing candidates who support the agenda of former president Donald J.
Trump.”Mark Zuckerberg, Meta co-founder and CEO, said in a statement: “Peter has been a valuable member of our board and I’m deeply grateful for everything he has done for our company — from believing in us when few others would, to teaching me so many lessons about business, economics, and the world.
Peter is truly an original thinker who you can bring your hardest problems and get unique suggestions.” In 2016, Thiel was Silicon Valley’s biggest backer of Trump, having donated $1.25 million to the presidential campaign.
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