(FOR SATURDAY'S NAMIBIAN SUN) How Namibia shaped Silicon Valley's most contrarian mind
Swakopmund's budding libertarian rebel
From a shy Swakopmund primary school learner to a global business mogul valued at over N$400 billion – this is his story.
Namibia is rarely mentioned, if at all, in conversations about Silicon Valley. Yet, for one of its most enigmatic figures, billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel, the country played a formative role in shaping his life and the worldview he would later bring to PayPal, Palantir, and beyond.
Thiel, born in Frankfurt in 1967, spent part of his childhood in Namibia, where his father worked for the Rössing Uranium Mine near Swakopmund.
Thiel changed elementary schools seven times. In Swakopmund, he attended a local German-language school known for its rigid discipline, uniforms, and corporal punishment. The school required students to wear uniforms and utilised corporal punishment, such as striking students' hands with a ruler.
Years later, Thiel reflected on that period as a decisive experience in his intellectual development. As his biography notes: “This experience instilled a distaste for uniformity and regimentation later reflected in his support for individualism and libertarianism,” he remarked.
The Swakopmund years
Classmates recall a reserved boy who stood out academically but did not form deep social connections. Georg Erb, who attended the same school, described him as “smart but withdrawn” with “that distinct, striking, smart look... almost like he seemed bored. We didn’t really mingle a lot with Peter... we always knew the miners’ kids would not stay long in town” Max Chafkin wrote in The Contrarian.
It was also during these years in Namibia that Thiel immersed himself in fantasy literature -J.R.R. Tolkien, Isaac Asimov, and Robert Heinlein - works that would later inspire the names of his investment firms, such as Mithril and Rivendell.
Life on the edge of apartheid
Thiel’s childhood in Namibia coincided with the late stages of apartheid-era South Africa’s rule over the territory. The Rössing Uranium Mine, where his father worked, has since been described as one of the most controversial mining projects of its era - built under apartheid administration and co-owned by Iran as a minority shareholder.
Today the mine is owned by the China National Uranium Corporation Limited (CNUC), which purchased Rio Tinto's majority stake in 2019.
While young Thiel was shielded from these realities, his proximity to such an environment shaped his awareness of political systems and power structures. Later, as a student at Stanford, his views on apartheid drew sharp criticism. In Max Chafkin’s biography, The Contrarian, classmates recalled Thiel arguing that apartheid “works” and was “economically sound,” adding: “Any moral issues were irrelevant. ... South Africa was much more developed than its neighbours and ... life there, even for those who were systematically denied their rights, was better than it was in, say, Ethiopia or Burundi”.
A contrarian mindset rooted in Namibia?
Historians and biographers have noted that Thiel’s early experiences in Namibia left him with a lasting scepticism toward institutions and collective norms. From the harsh discipline of Swakopmund’s classrooms to the political contradictions of apartheid in Namibia, Thiel emerged with a worldview that privileges independence, contrarian thinking, and scepticism of consensus.
Today, those traits are central to his identity as one of Silicon Valley’s most influential and controversial figures. Whether investing in futuristic technologies, supporting libertarian causes, or backing political candidates, Thiel continues to embody the independence he first cultivated as a boy in Namibia.
Today, Thiel is a hugely successful entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and thinker worth a reported US$23.5 billion (N$415 billion). A co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund, he was the first outside investor in Facebook. A conservative libertarian, Thiel has made substantial donations to American right-wing figures and causes.
Thiel lived in San Francisco, California, until 2018, when he relocated to Los Angeles. He had previously criticised San Francisco as being “overpriced, insular, and intolerant of conservatives.”
Thiel, who is openly gay, has two adopted children with his husband, Matt Danzeisen.
Thiel, born in Frankfurt in 1967, spent part of his childhood in Namibia, where his father worked for the Rössing Uranium Mine near Swakopmund.
Thiel changed elementary schools seven times. In Swakopmund, he attended a local German-language school known for its rigid discipline, uniforms, and corporal punishment. The school required students to wear uniforms and utilised corporal punishment, such as striking students' hands with a ruler.
Years later, Thiel reflected on that period as a decisive experience in his intellectual development. As his biography notes: “This experience instilled a distaste for uniformity and regimentation later reflected in his support for individualism and libertarianism,” he remarked.
The Swakopmund years
Classmates recall a reserved boy who stood out academically but did not form deep social connections. Georg Erb, who attended the same school, described him as “smart but withdrawn” with “that distinct, striking, smart look... almost like he seemed bored. We didn’t really mingle a lot with Peter... we always knew the miners’ kids would not stay long in town” Max Chafkin wrote in The Contrarian.
It was also during these years in Namibia that Thiel immersed himself in fantasy literature -J.R.R. Tolkien, Isaac Asimov, and Robert Heinlein - works that would later inspire the names of his investment firms, such as Mithril and Rivendell.
Life on the edge of apartheid
Thiel’s childhood in Namibia coincided with the late stages of apartheid-era South Africa’s rule over the territory. The Rössing Uranium Mine, where his father worked, has since been described as one of the most controversial mining projects of its era - built under apartheid administration and co-owned by Iran as a minority shareholder.
Today the mine is owned by the China National Uranium Corporation Limited (CNUC), which purchased Rio Tinto's majority stake in 2019.
While young Thiel was shielded from these realities, his proximity to such an environment shaped his awareness of political systems and power structures. Later, as a student at Stanford, his views on apartheid drew sharp criticism. In Max Chafkin’s biography, The Contrarian, classmates recalled Thiel arguing that apartheid “works” and was “economically sound,” adding: “Any moral issues were irrelevant. ... South Africa was much more developed than its neighbours and ... life there, even for those who were systematically denied their rights, was better than it was in, say, Ethiopia or Burundi”.
A contrarian mindset rooted in Namibia?
Historians and biographers have noted that Thiel’s early experiences in Namibia left him with a lasting scepticism toward institutions and collective norms. From the harsh discipline of Swakopmund’s classrooms to the political contradictions of apartheid in Namibia, Thiel emerged with a worldview that privileges independence, contrarian thinking, and scepticism of consensus.
Today, those traits are central to his identity as one of Silicon Valley’s most influential and controversial figures. Whether investing in futuristic technologies, supporting libertarian causes, or backing political candidates, Thiel continues to embody the independence he first cultivated as a boy in Namibia.
Today, Thiel is a hugely successful entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and thinker worth a reported US$23.5 billion (N$415 billion). A co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund, he was the first outside investor in Facebook. A conservative libertarian, Thiel has made substantial donations to American right-wing figures and causes.
Thiel lived in San Francisco, California, until 2018, when he relocated to Los Angeles. He had previously criticised San Francisco as being “overpriced, insular, and intolerant of conservatives.”
Thiel, who is openly gay, has two adopted children with his husband, Matt Danzeisen.
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