Peter Thiel, the PayPal co-founder and Silicon Valley's only major supporter of Donald Trump, has decided to donate $1.25 million to the Republican candidate's beleaguered campaign.
His first donation to Trump will be given through a combination of super PAC donations and direct funds, the New York Times learnt on Saturday.
Thiel spoke in favour of Trump at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in July and, according to a person close to the investor, he is "unfazed" by the controversy that has erupted around the candidate over the past week.
In his summer speech, he said:
"Instead of going to Mars, we invaded the Middle East... It's time to end the era of stupid wars and rebuild our country. When I was a kid, the great debate was about how to defeat the Soviet Union, and we won. Now we are told that the great debate is about who gets to use which bathroom. This is a distraction from our real problems. Who cares?"
With Thiel sitting on the board of Facebook, the social networking giant made an effort to distance itself from the speech at the time, stating:
"Peter Thiel is attending and speaking at the RNC in his personal capacity. He is not attending on behalf of Facebook or to represent our views."
Now startup incubator Y Combinator, of which Thiel is a part-time partner, has had to defend its association with him.
Y Combinator president Sam Altman took to Twitter as many Silicon Valley voices expressed anger on the site to state that, while he disagreed with Thiel's political leanings, he would not fire someone for supporting a major party nominee...
3) Thiel is a high profile supporter of Trump. I disagree with this. YC is not going to fire someone for supporting a major party nominee.
— Sam Altman (@sama) October 17, 2016
3.5) That's a dangerous path to start down.
— Sam Altman (@sama) October 17, 2016
7) Also, PG and I have contibutred more this election cycle than Peter has (as far as we know).
— Sam Altman (@sama) October 17, 2016
