Peter Thiel plans to step down from the board of Facebook parent company Meta, where he's served since shortly after the company's founding.
Why it matters: Thiel has been the board's only representative in former President Trump's orbit, and also one of its most iconoclastic thinkers.
- The New York Times reports that he wants to spend more time focused on influencing the November midterm elections. This could include the Senate campaigns of Republicans J.D. Vance (Ohio) and Blake Masters (Arizona), both of whom have worked for Thiel at investment firms.
- Thiel didn't necessarily need to leave Facebook's board to influence electoral politics, as evidenced by Trump's 2016 campaign, but it does make it more politically palatable for MAGA-aligned candidates to take Thiel's money.
- It's unclear if Thiel would support Trump, were he to run in 2024, given that Thiel opted against donating to Trump's 2020 re-election campaign.
What Thiel's saying: "It has been a privilege to work with one of the great entrepreneurs of our time. Mark Zuckerberg's intelligence, energy and conscientiousness are tremendous. His talents will serve Meta well as he leads the company into a new era."
