On one hand, he graduated from Stanford University with a philosophy degree and a law degree. Conversely, he thinks college is so overrated that he will pay students $100,000 to drop out.

On behalf of the Stanford Chapter of the American Association of University Professors, Cecile Alduy asks President Levin and Provost Martinez to explicitly resist threats from the federal government.

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.

He previously backed Ron Paul 's Super PAC in 2012. A self-described Libertarian, Thiel graduated from Stanford University as an undergraduate and then Stanford Law School.

Thiel’s parents moved to the US thereafter, and Thiel went on to attend Stanford – at the time roiled by protests by student associations to encourage divestment from apartheid South Africa.