‘A New Era’: Peter Thiel Steps Down From Meta’s Board of Directors

It’s the tip of an period at Meta. Just final week, the corporate’s inventory buckled after Facebook reported its first decline in every day lively customers within the firm’s historical past. Now, the corporate previously generally known as Facebook has parted methods with Peter Thiel, one in every of its longest-serving and most controversial board members.

In a statement launched on Monday, Meta introduced Thiel, who joined the corporate’s board of administrators again in 2005, had determined to not stand for re-election. Thiel was one in every of Mark Zuckerberg’s most vital mentors and the primary outdoors investor in Facebook. As Max Chafkin notes in his latest biography, The Contrarian, Thiel was, “the first person in authority to grasp that Zuckerberg actually knew what he was doing.”

Thiel additionally secretly funded a lawsuit that bankrupted Gizmodo’s former mother or father firm, Gawker Media.

“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,” Zuckerberg mentioned in an announcement. “Peter is truly an original thinker who you can bring your hardest problems and get unique suggestions. He has served on our board for almost two decades, and we’ve always known that at some point he would devote his time to other interests. I’m grateful he’s served on our board for as long as he has, and I wish him the best in his journey ahead.”

So what’s subsequent for the tech libertarian leviathan? According to a supply talking with the New York Times, Thiel plans on spending a lot of his effort and time influencing the November midterm elections, with a watch in the direction of supporting Donald Trump-aligned candidates. Thiel has shortly change into one of many largest donors within the Republican social gathering, the Times notes, final yr spending $10 million to assist Senate hopefuls Blake Masters and J.D. Vance.

Thiel’s political ambitions have at occasions clashed up in opposition to his function at Meta. Last yr, for example, Master and Blake co-wrote an editorial within the New York Post the place they claimed Zuckerberg’s $420 million in native election donations amounted to meddling.

Thiel performed an essential function in Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential win, donating over $1 million to his marketing campaign and talking on the Republican National Convention. Thiel additionally labored on Trump’s transition crew the place he used his influence to fill a number of positions.

“It has been a privilege to work with one of the great entrepreneurs of our time,” Thiel mentioned in an announcement. “Mark Zuckerberg’s intelligence, energy and conscientiousness are tremendous. His talents will serve Meta well as he leads the company into a new era.”

That period will possible see Meta make investments additional in augmented actuality and digital actuality applied sciences in an try to carve out a spot as a pacesetter within the metaverse. That period may additionally see Meta attempt to distance itself from years of controversy and scandal. That transition might come simpler with out Thief whispering into Zuckerberg’s ear. Thiel’s embrace of far-right candidates and alleged embrace of misinformation may additional muddy Meta’s efforts at cleansing up its picture. That level wasn’t misplaced on Thiel, according to a supply in The Wall Street Journal, who mentioned the billionaire had determined to step down, partially to keep away from being a distraction for the corporate.

At the identical time, it’s onerous to disregard the truth that Meta suffered the largest single-day wipeout in inventory market historical past final week. It’s solely potential Thiel’s simply determined the experience is over.