Tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel pledged to donate $1.5 million to Donald Trump campaign. The largess will be funneled through a mix of super PAC donations and direct contribution to the campaign. While Thiel has been vocal about his support to Trump, this is the first monetary contribution to Donald Trump's presidential campaign by the billionaire.
Thiel's contribution has attracted a barrage of criticism. He was already subjected to scrutiny after he spoke at the Republic National Convention (RNC) held earlier this year. The convention had nominated Trump as the Republican presidential nominee. Thiel said that he supports Trump as he believes that Trump will avoid getting the country into unnecessary foreign issues.
Trump campaign has an unlikely tech ally in Thiel. Silicon Valley has maintained its distance from Trump with many prominent tycoons openly extending their support for Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton. Thiel holds a board seat on Facebook, whose CEO Mark Zuckerberg has publicly criticized Trump policies. Facebook also made an overt effort to distance itself from Thiel's association with RNC, describing it as "personal."
Thiel has been in the news recently as he was revealed to be the donor behind Hulk Hogan's lawsuit against Gawker. Hogan suit led to the ultimate bankruptcy of the media website.
Thiel's endorsement of Trump comes as a surprise as the entrepreneur is an immigrant, who came to the US as a child. He co-founded PayPal with Elon Musk.