Thiel was born in Germany but grew up in the United States, with a childhood sojourn in apartheid South Africa.

Thiel played a critical role in orchestrating Vance's rise to the top of Republican politics. The two first met in 2011, when Vance attended a talk Thiel gave at Yale Law School.

Peter Thiel (left) and Elon Musk (right) are both members of the PayPal Mafia. AP It's also what first made him rich. He earned about $100 million when it went public, Bloomberg estimates.

Thiel and Vance met back in 2011 after the former spoke at Yale Law School. The future vice presidential nominee went on to work at a venture capital firm co-founded by Thiel as well as to found ...

I think Peter wants to change the direction of the country,” Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist told The New York Times of Thiel. With Vance on the ballot, he may have a way to do so.