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☆ Before politics, JD Vance had a career in venture capital. Here are the startups he's invested in.
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-16 | by ( Madeline Berg | Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

JD Vance is a man of many careers: attorney, author, senator, vice president-elect, and, perhaps less well-known, venture capitalist. For about six years between graduating from law school and becoming a United States senator from Ohio, Vance held various positions in the space before eventually starting his own fund, Narya Capital. Vance co-founded Narya Capital in 2019After two years, Vance broke out on his own, cofounding Narya Capital in 2019 with investments from Thiel, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and VC veteran Marc Andreessen. According to his vice president and senate disclosure forms, he has a stake in Narya Capital Fund I, Narya Capital Fund II, and Rise of the Rest Seed Fund. AdvertisementHis stake in Narya Capital Fund I is worth between $500,001 and $1 million.

Persons: JD Vance, Vance, doesn't, Peter Thiel's, Steve Case's, Boston —, Thiel, Eric Schmidt, Marc Andreessen, Narya, Vivek Ramaswamy's, Nayra, Luke Schroeder Organizations: United, Narya, Mithril, Narya Capital, cofounding, II, Narya's Capital, US Space Force Locations: United States, Ohio, New York, Silicon Valley, Boston, Narya, ValueBase, PitchBook

☆ What JD Vance's rise tells us about the influence of Peter Thiel — and Silicon Valley in the age of Donald Trump
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-26 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Without Peter Thiel, Vance does not get anywhere near the US Senate. And in Silicon Valley, the conservative movement is much stronger, and more muscular than it was before. AdvertisementThere's this narrative, promoted by people like Thiel, that Silicon Valley is super-liberal. Because Silicon Valley has conservative roots in addition to roots in the counterculture. AdvertisementLike I said, the liberal nature of Silicon Valley has always been sort of overplayed.

Persons: —, I'm, Donald Trump, Vance, Peter Thiel —, Max Chafkin, who's, Thiel, Peter Thiel's, Trump, JD Vance, Narya, It's, supercharge, Bill Pugliano, David Sacks, Peter Thiel, revel, that's, he's, Elon Musk, Marc Andreessen, They're, Elon Musk's, Apu Gomes, Steve Jobs, Ben Horowitz Organizations: Service, Republican, Trump, Business, Bloomberg Businessweek, Republican National Convention, YouTube, Ohio Senate, The, Thiel, Twitter Locations: Silicon Valley, Mithril, Narya, Ohio, West Coast, —, America, Silicon, San Francisco

Andreessen and Horowitz are the latest and most prominent members of the startup investing community to publicly support Trump. Up until now, there have been pockets of vocal Trump support within Silicon Valley, including conservative provocateur Peter Thiel, the pugnacious hosts of the All-In podcast, and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale. WE HAVE A FORMER TECH VC IN THE WHITE HOUSE. Most of the VCs Business Insider spoke to were unanimously against Kahn. "If it is Biden vs. Trump officially, I think many '"never Trumpers" will go with Trump," said a Bay Area VC.

Persons: —, Andreessen Horowitz, Ben Horowitz, Marc Andreessen, Donald Trump, Sen, JD Vance, Peter Thiel's, Steve Case, Andreessen, Horowitz, provocateur Peter Thiel, Palantir, Joe Lonsdale, Elon Musk, who's, Joe Biden, Vance, Trump, IT'S JD VANCE, WE, MAGA, he's, Bradley Tusk, Chuck Schumer, Tusk, Lina Khan, That's, what's, Kahn, Lina Kahn, Khan, Biden, they're, David Hornik Organizations: Service, The Little, Business, Trump, Wall Street, Founder's Fund, TECH, Democratic, Biden, FTC, SEC, Bay, Republican, Sequoia Capital, Lobby Locations: America, Silicon Valley, New York, Delian, San Francisco, Silicon, There's

AdvertisementThe Thiel effectFor Vance, Thiel's influence first left its mark when he was still a student. Thiel also got a shoutout on the acknowledgments page of Vance's 2016 book, "Hillbilly Elegy." The former PayPal CEO has given $15 million to Vance's campaign, Politico reported — the largest donation ever given to one Senate candidate. AdvertisementOne of Trump's biggest donors in the 2016 presidential campaign, Thiel has re-emerged as a key player in the MAGA movement after largely sitting out the 2020 election. Thiel also appears to have pulled some of his Silicon Valley strings to advance Vance's campaign.

Persons: —, JD Vance, Peter Thiel, Vance, Donald Trump, Thiel, Palantir, Elon Musk, Thiel's, meaninglessness, Tolkien, Steve Case, Trumper, Win McNamee, MAGA, Trump, David Sacks, Musk, Sacks, Tucker Carlson, Nordin Catic, Mark Zuckerberg Organizations: Service, Republican National Convention, Republican, White, Business, PayPal, Trump, Bloomberg, Yale, Yale Law School, Thiel's, Mithril, Narya, Politico, Republican Party, Fox News, Cambridge University Union, Facebook, Palantir Technologies, Spotify Locations: Milwaukee, Ohio, Mithril, Mar, Cambridge, England, Airbnb

Vance as his running mate and a possible successor to lead the “Make America Great Again” movement. The 39-year-old served in Iraq and later went to Yale Law School, where he met his wife, Usha Vance. (She resigned from her role as a trial lawyer at Munger Tolles & Olson after Vance joined the ticket.) Vance rose to national prominence after publishing the best-selling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy.” He worked at Mithril Capital Management, a venture capital firm co-founded by Peter Thiel, and Steve Case’s Revolution. Vance is close to the libertarian wing of the tech industry.

Persons: Donald Trump, Vance, He’s, ”, he’s, Usha Vance, Olson, Peter Thiel, Steve Case’s, Thiel, Eric Schmidt, Marc Andreessen, David Sacks Organizations: Trump, Yale Law School, Mithril Capital Management, Ohio Senate, Republican National Convention Locations: Iraq, Munger, Silicon, Ohio

☆ JD Vance tried to be a VC. He didn't do much, old colleagues said.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-16 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

But his former colleagues previously told Business Insider in a 2021 report that his business expertise wasn't that noteworthy. AdvertisementVance's former coworkers previously told BI that Vance was away from his new job much at the time to promote his book. Trump's campaign also didn't respond to a request for comment about how Vance's old colleagues characterized his VC work. AdvertisementVance's time at Revolution did provide him the connections needed to go off and start his own VC firm, Narya Capital, in 2019. "There are a thousand red flags," Jeff Sohl, director of the University of New Hampshire's Center for Venture Research, previously told BI.

Persons: —, Donald Trump's, JD Vance, Trump, Vance, Peter Thiel, didn't, weren't, Steven Case's, Narya, Jeff Sohl, Donald Trump Organizations: Service, Technology, Finance, Business, Mithril, BI, Narya, Politico, University of New Hampshire's Center for Venture Research Locations: Ohio, San Francisco

☆ Exclusive: Tech billionaire Peter Thiel was an FBI informant
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Another source close to Thiel told Insider that while they could not confirm that Thiel was a CHS, Thiel did speak to Buma occasionally. "[They] will be either an 'FBI source' or a 'former FBI source' and, in turn, his or her conduct or misconduct will reflect upon the FBI." Drew Angerer/Getty ImagesAs a CHS, Thiel was assigned a code name and an internal serial number to track his reporting. Thiel, Johnson said, was directed by the FBI not to report on his interactions with Donald Trump or other US political figures. Johnson told Insider that he brokered an introduction between Thiel and the FBI special agent who would become his handler.

Persons: Peter Thiel, Trump, Thiel, Johnathan Buma, Charles Johnson, Johnson, MAGA, Donald Trump, Drew Angerer, Scott Horton, Buma, Sen, J.D, Vance of, Blake Masters, —, Vance, Joe Biden's, Vance of Ohio, Anna Moneymaker, Masters, Mithril's, Matt Gaetz, Gaetz's, Ginger Gaetz, Bill Barr, Rudy Giuliani, Alex Wong, Jeffrey Epstein, Enrique Tarrio, Tarrio, Mattathias Schwartz Organizations: FBI, Buma, CHS, Trump, Trump Tower, Republican National Convention, Joe Biden's Department, Getty Masters, Mar, Masters, Pentagon, CIA, National Security Agency, US Army, NSO Group, Forbes, Mithril, Clearview's, Committee, Capitol, Founders Fund, Boys Locations: Los Angeles, Germany, United States, New Zealand, Malta, Silicon, Vance of Ohio, Arizona, Palantir, American, Russian, Atlantic City, schwartz79@protonmail.com

☆ Peter Thiel's picks Masters, Vance split key Senate races in Arizona, Ohio after billionaire spent $32 million on 2022 midterms
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Peter Thiel, president and founder of Clarium Capital Management LLC, speaks during the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami, Florida, on Thursday, April 7, 2022. Billionaire and Republican megadonor Peter Thiel's $32 million investment in the 2022 midterm elections saw mixed results, as two of his former employees split U.S. Senate races that will help to decide control of the chamber. Thiel instead opted to pile more money into Republican Blake Masters' bid to unseat Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly in Arizona. Thiel jolted Masters' Senate bid early on with a $15 million donation to a pro-Masters super PAC during Arizona's primary election, according to Federal Election Commission records. Records show that Thiel contributed similar amounts to Republican Reps. Mike McCaul, Chris Stewart, Michael Waltz, Tom Cole and Mario Diaz-Balart.

☆ GOP megadonor Peter Thiel to host fundraiser for Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Republican megadonor Peter Thiel is hosting a fundraiser at his Los Angeles home next week for Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters after GOP officials asked the tech mogul for more money heading into the final stretch of the November midterm elections. The move by Thiel to host Masters comes as donations from the tech mogul to separate super PACs supporting Masters and Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Republican leaders and campaign officials, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have reportedly asked Thiel to help Vance and Masters in the general election. Vance and Masters both worked with Thiel before they launched their Senate campaigns. Vance once worked at investment firm Mithril Capital, which was co-founded by Thiel, while Masters was the chief operating officer at Thiel Capital.

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