Jan 31, 2012

The largest donor to a SuperPAC supporting Ron Paul is Peter Thiel, the sort of ultra-wealthy, super-national figure Paul and his supporters love to hate.

Thiel -- who gave $900,000 to the pro-Paul group Endorse Liberty -- made his fortune as the co-founder of PayPal; he was also an early investor in Facebook, and is now a major player in the world of high-tech venture capital. He's also a devoted libertarian and devoted Republican: He hosted afundraiser for the confrontational gay conservative group GOProud at his grand apartment off Union Square in 2010.

Thiel is also a member of the steering committee of the Bilderberg Group, the elite, invitation-only conference that's the frequent subject of conspiracy theories.

"They probably get together and talk about how they're going to control the banking systems of the world and natural resources," Paul said in 2008.

Thiel shares, though, Paul's anti-government, and anti-Establishment, impulses. He has funded a prize to encourage talented students to drop out of college, and is a major supporter of the cause of "Seasteading," creating independent, water-borne cities free of national law.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeedpolitics/ron-pauls-biggest-supporte...