Tuesday, August 13, 2024

Tax Hating, Bond Villain Libertarian Taps Uncle Sam's Wallet


One story on billionaires building underground bunkers led to another on the harms they wish to avoid.  And how do these obscenely wealthy men know about these existential dangers?  They grew up with them in mythological form and then helped them become a current reality.  I can't help but see aspects of a James Bond villain in their dark ascendance.

Take Peter Thiel, founder of PayPal and Palantir, was an early investor in Facebook (now Meta).  Thiel has three private equity underwriters (PEU), Founders Fund, Thiel Capital and Mithril Capital.  


One might expect Thiel to understand product life cycles, given he is part of the techbro live forever crowd.  Nvidia is making big money off AI but Palantir is in the top ten.  The federal government uses Palantir's AI in healthcare, national security and the Department of Defense.
54% of Palantir's revenue is from government contracts.

Thiel's Founders Fund co-led Anduril's latest $1.5 billion funding round.  Anduril has government contracts to produce autonomous weapons systems.  It's now delivered.   

Palantir is not limited to national security and defense.  It's targeting healthcare.

I find it amazing how dependent tax hating libertarians are on Uncle Sam's wallet.  

A battle is underway to remove what few checks exist to restrain corporate power, especially invasive technology where pricing is a trade secret and even coordinate across an industry.  Big's Matt Stoller suggests if the pendulum swings all the way back to corporations:

the consolidation wave, algorithmic price fixing and surveillance is going to ramp up at startling speed.

Note: The pendulum has only marginally swung in the direction of consumers with government serving as a slight check.

There is a modicum of hope.  Local New Zealand citizens turned back Peter Thiel's giant bunker complex.  Their general population should be an example for us all.

Update 8-17-24:  The Daily Show's Jon Stewart noted creepy techbros in his interview with Mark Cuban.  Stewart said "if this new sort of techbro phenomenon is so dystopian in its formulation." Cuban responded "watching what's happening in Silicon Valley is insane.  It's not so much a support thing, it's more like a takeover thing, trying to put themselves into position to have as much control as possible.  They want Trump to be the CEO of the United States of America and they want to be the board of directors that makes him listen to them.  It's not a good thing."

Update 8-18-24:  Peter Thiel went on Joe Rogan's podcast and pondered leaving the U.S. altogether.  Is there a land suited for techbro diety?  

It could be the Cayman Islands:

Dave Troy posted thoughts on techbros Thiel and Musk on X

Tax hating techbros learned from the PEU class before them.  Politicians Red and Blue love PEU and increasingly more are one.