Peter Thiel to back Trump as GOP presidential candidate

Billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel has agreed to back Trump as a California delegate in Cleveland this summer.

Thiel’s level of support for the Donald is unclear, but Thiel will be one of 172 selected Golden State delegates headed to the Republican National Convention, and a source tells us he has committed to back Trump as the GOP’s presidential nominee while there.

It seems odd, on the surface, for anyone in Silicon Valley to side with someone like Trump. Other prominent leaders like A16z’s Marc Andreessen have been vocal about their distaste for a man they see as unworthy of the office of president.

https://twitter.com/pmarca/status/629838480722391040

But the Donald might be the perfect outsider for Thiel, who is not one for choosing the conventional, to back.

And Thiel, a libertarian, has supported other Republican causes in the past, including donating $2.6 million to Ron Paul in 2012 and adding $2 million to a Super PAC backing Ted Cruz’s former running mate and ex-HP CEO Carly Fiorina.

Thiel also gave a quarter of a million to Ted Cruz’s bid for Texas attorney general in 2009.

We’ve reached out to Thiel to ask just how much support he intends to lend beyond backing Trump in Cleveland this summer and will let you know if and when he responds.