Peter Thiel, Silicon Valley billionaire and Hulk Hogan helper, is reportedly set to join Donald Trump’s transition team. Ex-Fortune editor Dan Primack cites sources that say Thiel has agreed to join the president-elect’s team, but declines to mention in what capacity he will operate.
The Huffington Post had reported earlier in the day that Thiel was being considered for chair of Trump’s transition team — a position currently held by New Jersey governor Chris Christie — but Primack says people close to Thiel would be “surprised” if he wanted such a hands-on role.
Thiel is a billionaire venture capitalist, Facebook board member, and co-founder of PayPal, but he’s become most famous in recent months as the man responsible for bringing down Gawker, having quietly funded wrestler Hulk Hogan’s legal battles against the site. He was also one of the few Silicon Valley figures to throw his support behind Donald Trump during the election campaign. Thiel made an appearance on stage at this year’s Republican National Convention, and donated millions of dollars to pro-Trump campaigns, saying in October that no matter the outcome of the election, what Trump represented was “not going away.”