Peter Thiel is a very lucky and very greedy idiot who has betrayed the LGBT community and is the essence of greed and insensitivity that has so characterized this miserable administration that Thiel so gleefully backed. Having Money does not indicate good character. Having Money does not indicate intelligence. Generally speaking being as wealthy as Thiel require the utmost care and containment of the will to power, (like Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg) through good deeds and the disbursement of this wealth back into the communities from whence it came. While I don't believe anyone should be as wealthy as Gates or Zuckerberg, Thiel is clear evidence of how dark being rich can really be.
2
Good riddance to Thiel. The removal, from the valley, of the city-block sized chip on his shoulder should free up some much needed space for affordable housing.
3
Probably the reason the U-haul out of SF cost so much is because it was parked in a structure downtown and the parking fee to get it out had to be paid by whoever rented it. 2,000 dollars seems cheap.
The comments criticizing Mr Thiel validate his decision to leave such an intolerant atmosphere. And, no, just because you believe he is a bigoted libertarian does not make him so.
Let's arrange a trade. Hollywood will take Peter Thiel and the Silicon Valley gets Harvey Weinstein.
This whole area is full of turkeys, and they are aggressive. I don't advocate killing them, but I do understand why people going to a hospital don't want to encounter aggressive turkeys.
1
re: Thiel
Isn't it nice that people who prefer Los Angeles to San Francisco live there?
-- Herb Caen
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Peter Thiel leaving northern California! Can I hold the door for him?
12
Living in California at the mercy of Brown and his Sacramento cabal makes it a very undesirable place to reside. Taxes and regulations for business are over the top. And the tree hugging politicians justify their over the top wages and existence by creating a new law every other day. Brown's Bullet Train is billion dollar joke and the state's roads and services make Bangladesh desirable.
3
Maybe he can fund a lawsuit to defend the turkeys?
Seriously the "wild turkeys" are NOT "wild turkeys" - they are "feral" turkeys, whose ancestors escaped from local poultry farms. They are not the noble native East Coast bird that Ben Franklin admired and wanted as our nation symbol (instead of the eagle).
These feral birds are nasty and destructive if you have any landscaping and a flock decides to invade. I don't mind respectfully sharing my space with wildlife, but I draw the line with turkeys and termites. Maybe the turkey "supporters" could adopt them and take them home so they no longer threaten the patients trying to enter the medical center.
1
Peter Thiel -- if you watch him speaking on Youtube (there's tons of videos) it is obvious he is natively VERY bright -- legitimately a faster thinker than most. And he possesses genuine insights on tech (unlike Zuckerberg who is certainly smart but completely lacking in innovative leadership or ideas -- sorry Marc). You should hear Thiel diss Google for its chronic lack of innovation: it is jawdropping and he's not completely wrong.
On the other hand, Thiel is so VERY uber-confident about his tech insights that I wonder if there is anyone near Thiel who is ever allowed to disagree with him and not be summarily dismissed by Thiel forever? That's the impression I certainly get from Thiel's demeanor. What the heck is he like at a casual dinner party?
Dont get me wrong: Thiel has a genuine passion for tech, which is more than one can say for some of the others at his level of power/money/influence. I appreciate Thiel putting himself out there -- while folks like Paul Allen and Bezos always always shrink away. They are all titans of tech, but some dont seem to know what to do next, after their success.
2
Turkeys? Really? Throw a couple of rocks, or spray them with a hose. They'll become wary of people, as they should be. Get someone to bring a dog and encourage it to chase them. You don't have to kill an animal to drive it away.
On the other hand, they're famously edible.
3
I'm with Mark Twain on this one. Reports of our demise are greatly exaggerated.
6
That Peter Thiel still cannot see the truth about Trump speaks volumes about him.
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You are confusing (a) not seeing the truth about Trump, with (b) disliking the alternatives even more.
2
Sorry, but unless the other alternatives are also bought and paid for by Russia, I can't imagine anyone worse.
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I don’t think so. Truth is he’s much worse than the alternatives.
If all libertarians leave California, no one will shed a tear.
11
Hi-Tech is here in the Valley because Stanford University is. I think Stanford will stay and therefore hi-tech will. The preponderance of VC firms is also here, to stay.
6
The entire valley revolves around a robber-baron established university? Me thinks not.
For Mr. Thiel a more accommodating place to move to could be Bakersfield and in due time crown himself 'Emperor of the Bakersfield'.
10
Two words: Thank God!
17
To Thiel and his libertarian alt-right quackery, goodby and good riddance. His value add has always been close to zero. He got lucky on some investments, and now pontificates endlessly on issues he doesn't understand.
28
Whether the SV is over because Mr Thiel decides to leave is highly debatable, but there's no question the Valley and the rest of the Bay Area is easily the nation's most intolerant, hate-filled region for independent thinkers.
4
more so than, for example, Charlottesville? I mean, really think about the hyperbole you're going for here...
5
You make a good point. I wasn't aware that Charlottesville's citizens were more rabidly anti-conservative, anti-libertarian and anti-independent-thinking than Bay Area folks. I'll take your word for it.
2
SV is intolerant of ignorance, of outright and outrageous lies, alternate truths, alternate right, deception and racism. All those things that Mr. Thiel supports in Mr. Trump. So yes, if you say we're intolerant, thanks.
6
A gang of turkeys? Really? City folk being threatened by birds - that's a good one! Relocate them and leave it at that. We can't just kill wildlife that annoy us..
2
The turkeys are seeking justice against the humans for their murdered ancestors.
8
Mr Thiel won't find sanctuary in Southern CA if that's his goal. They will not tolerate the belligerent alt-right billionaire any more than the Bay Area did. Bigotry and racism is just that - it doesn't matter how smart or rich you are. Perhaps he should move to Alabama or Mississippi.
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marky, you neglect to understand the power of extreme wealth that allows a person to pretty much do anything he wants to do. We all want to believe in objective fairness and justice for all == but the truth is that extreme amounts of money buys just about anything in the 21st century.
The valley of the democrats expelled a radical
3
Jerry can say what he will. As a lifelong Californian who's watched him in politics all my life and always had a great deal of respect for him, he's irrelevant now. The boondoggled unfinished bullet train that he stubbornly won't let go of in the face of everything else more urgent will sadly be his final legacy.
6
Who needs the bullet train? San Franciscans can bike to LA.
In Silicon Valley we are so pleased that Peter Thiel is leaving. Don't let the door slam on your way out Peter. Oh, and Peter could you please take Vinod Khosla with you. Beachgoers and surfers would like to have access to the Pacific Ocean.
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yes, why not appropriate all private property while you're at it?
Too bad for LA. Thiel - the Trump supporter, the guy who used Hulk Hogan to destroy Grawker, the guy who suggested young people are wasting their time in college, the guy who not only has dual German citizenship, but secretly obtained New Zealand citizenship. Thiel the hedger. The guy whose ego has overflowed the boundaries of Silicon Valley. Farewell, and please don’t come back.
46
I love stories about people who have cashed in on the Bay Area or California economy moving elsewhere and saying negative things about where they left. Hypocrites.
33
I was hoping Thiel would be leaving the planet.
42
Given the concurrent article on more flooding in the Bay Area (the map which is centered on Silicon Valley and the marshlands formerly known as Sun Quentin, now known as Facebook, it makes sense to diversify geographically regardless of the motivation. He should put out an RFP for cities to try to attract his next location. ;)
Yeah! We don't need a Trump supporter in Silicon Valley. Also he isn't a technical type. He is a "suit."
23
I guess in the end, it's all about Peter Thiel. And what He thinks.
9
I await the day when people good at accumulating capital are no longer automatically viewed as thoughtful, intelligent, moral, cultured, etc. Enough of this!
30
Regarding the turkey story: stories like these leave me feeling really conflicted, culturally. Like, I don't want to be part of the team roving the post-apocalyptic wastelands, hunting liberals with my AR-15 and putting women in birthing cages. At the same time, I don't want to be trapped in my post apocalyptic bunker with dwindling food supplies, unable to go foraging, while everyone holds months of public feedback meetings and studies because a turkey is on the loose in front of the bunker, and we can't hurt it - but it also pecks super hard, and Jaxon likes waving at it.
These turkeys are terrorizing medical patients. When going to treatment, who needs to be hassled by turkeys? Export the turkeys to where wolves are making a comeback. It will be a win-win.
As someone who grew up in the Santa Clara Valley (SV's actual name), served our country overseas, worked for over a decade in a big name SV firm, and now has trouble finding work in late middle age, I would like to bid Mr. Thiel a fond farewell. Here's hoping that I can give him a Lyft ride to SJC airport. Don't forget to diversify your investments. A coltan mine in the Congo, perhaps?
11
I think Mr. Thiel is making the right move. Silicon Valley has become a victim of its own success. Easy money has ensured that even subpar or trivial ideas will get funded. This has had a substantial negative impact on the high signal to noise ratio that once made the valley a hotbed of innovation. There are still good people doing good work here, but they are increasingly being drowned out in the din. In addition the cost of living means that even people with good ideas won't be able to come and live here. Getting out of the tech bubble seems like a good way to get clarity on what really matters.
4
By all means, welcome Thiel into your home state. See how long you can take his arrogant bullying.
12
My home state is California, so sure (I haven't updated my profile yet). I am not a fan of Thiel for supporting the current cretin-in-chief, but many of his views on tech are worth reading, as is his book "Zero to One". You don't have to like Thiel to agree with some of his views.
3
Move fast and break things; move on to the next place and break that up, too. People like Peter Thiel -- born to the best of everything -- is hilarious when he rails about "tyranny. "
24
How does moving elsewhere in CA help? What about moving to NZ home or some other country Trump isn't exempting?
9
Who is the artist that did the wave painting behind Mr. Thiel? It's wonderful.
3
Peter Thiel is an investor, not a leader. He has made some excellent bets that have paid off for him, but I would question his judgement otherwise, based on his slavish backing of Candidate Trump. He, like many Trump backers, seems to want to see the world burn, if it doesn't fit his ideological model. As long as there are the Elon Musks in Silicon Valley, leading by innovating, it will survive. Musk fits the mold of Bill Hewlett and David Packard, who started their own Silicon Valley business there in the 1940s. Thiel is not in the same category--there are thousands of other investors ready to step into his place.
17
Here's a suggestion - going forward, the New York Times should only be allowed to publish one Peter Thiel article for every 100 Elon Musk articles. Any knucklehead can be an investor. Innovators are special people.
14
"Tyranny of place"? No. I would argue it's become the tyranny of money, the tyranny of self, the tyranny of ego that has pulled down SV. And, of course, you cannot afford to live here. The fact that so much foreign money, much of it of specious origin (China and Russia, most notably), has driven up the price of real estate so much, that investing in new ventures has become an overhead-heavy obstacle.
Silicon Valley isn't "over" because one egotist decides he's leaving (what happened to that new Zealand refuge, Thiel?), but its success has infused it with a financial hysteresis that most certainly has dulled the shine. Have fun in traffic land, Thiel.
8
It's interesting to hear Sam Altman complain about the Valley losing its ability to tolerate controversial ideas, since VC firms, as the gatekeepers of those ideas, are a substantial, if not the main driver of this. They make or break these ideas, whether for a profit-driven venture or basic research. Y-Combinator itself shut down it's own HARC lab not long ago, after less than a year of operation, numerous teams of which were performing groundbreaking research that would have impacted emerging, multibillion dollar industries in a positive way.
It's also amusing that Peter Thiel's idea of leaving the Valley is to move 5 hours south by car to LA. If he had moved to Shenzhen maybe it would carry some weight.
16
I started working in SV in 1984 - when WordStar was dominant on dedicated word-processing systems. Since the very beginning I have been hearing endless stories that SV was about to die. Almost four decades later it's as strong as ever, but stories stay the same. Theil is clearly an outlier who only gets attention because he's a rare Republican here. He's nothing more than a lucky investor.
13
"He's nothing more than a lucky investor."
Isnt that true of everyone affiliated with the beginnings of Google and Facebook? Seriously. Name one that isnt more like Thiel than not?
You could argue that Gates, Allen and Jobs are a different breed but that was also a very very very very very different decade in SV.
1
As a 22-year non-techie Silicon Valley resident who has lived through several cycles of the tech boom with its attendant effects on housing costs and traffic congestion, I would welcome a dispersal of tech innovators outward to other regions.
5
I do not understand why so much space is being spent on Peter Thiel - who rates his own opinions highly but is intolerant of others ( witness what he did to Gawker).
He is also wrong about innovation in the Silicon Valley. The next big thing is likely to be self driving cars. Big in its ability to transform society and way bigger in that sense than either Google or Facebook. And Silicon Valley has many startups and big companies ( Uber, Lyft, Waymo) working on it. In fact a considerable portion of the early work was done in Silicon Valley at Stanford and Google.
15