Joe Lonsdale Is Seed Funding Young Conservative Minds
The disciple of Peter Thiel is plowing millions into right-wing causes.
Illustration: Maggie Cowles for Bloomberg
Joe Lonsdale has followed Peter Thiel’s lead for most of his life. At Stanford University, he was the editor in chief of the conservative student newspaper Thiel co-founded in 1987. After an internship at PayPal, he got a job at Thiel’s hedge fund, Clarium Capital. Both avid chess players, they amassed fortunes building technology startups — most notably data software company Palantir Technologies Inc., now worth $100 billion — and eventually turned to supporting conservative politics.
But while Thiel has intentionally stayed out of the 2024 election, Londsale has rushed to pick up the mantle as one of the right’s most motivated and influential supporters. He helped establish Elon Musk’s America PAC, securing early donors to a group that has since collected tens of millions to fund Donald Trump’s ground campaign. And he was thrilled when Trump selected his friend and occasional business partner, Ohio Senator JD Vance, as his vice presidential running mate. He said in an interview he believes Vance could be the Republican party pick in 2028.