Thiel Fellowship

{{Missing information|any history of (or reception to) the fellowship after 2013|date=January 2022}}

{{Infobox

| title = Thiel Fellowship

| image = 200px

| label1 = Type

| data1 = Fellowship

| label2 = Funded by

| data2 = Peter Thiel through the Thiel Foundation

| label4 = Amount

| data4 = {{US$|100,000|link=yes}}

| label5 = Frequency of selection

| data5 = Annual

| label6 = Number of recipients

| data6 = 20–25 per year

| label7 = Website

| data7 = {{URL|thielfellowship.org}}

}}

The Thiel Fellowship (originally named 20 under 20) is a fellowship created by billionaire Peter Thiel through the Thiel Foundation in 2010. The fellowship is intended for students aged 22 or younger and offers them a total of $100,000 over two years, as well as guidance and other resources, to drop out of school and pursue other work, which could involve scientific research, creating a startup, or working on a social movement. Selection for the fellowship is through a competitive annual process, with about 20–25 fellows selected annually.

History

{{expand section | with = actual history (recipients, news, etc.), esp. from the fourth class going forward | small = no | date = December 2024}}

Peter Thiel announced the fellowship at TechCrunch Disrupt in September 2010.{{cite news|url = https://techcrunch.com/2010/09/27/peter-thiel-drop-out-of-school/| title = Peter Thiel Has New Initiative To Pay Kids To "Stop Out Of School"|last = Siegler| first = MG | date = September 27, 2010| work = TechCrunch|access-date = June 23, 2012}} The first round of fellows, based on applications made at the end of 2010, was announced in May 2011.{{cite news|url=https://techcrunch.com/2011/05/25/young-entrepreneurs-rule-meet-peter-thiels-first-20-under-20-thiel-fellows/|title = Young Entrepreneurs Rule: Meet Peter Thiel's First 20 under 20 Fellows|work = TechCrunch|date = May 25, 2011|last = Wauters|first = Robin}}{{cite news|url=http://chronicle.com/article/Thiel-Fellowship-Pays-24/127622/|title = Thiel Fellowship Pays 24 Talented Students $100,000 Not to Attend College|date = May 25, 2011|newspaper = Chronicle of Higher Education|last = Wieder|first = Ben}} The second round of fellows, based on applications made at the end of 2011, was announced in June 2012.{{cite web|url = http://www.thielfellowship.org/2012/06/peter-thiel-announces-2012-class-of-20-under-20-thiel-fellows-2/|title = Peter Thiel Announces 2012 Class of 20 Under 20 Thiel Fellows|publisher = Thiel Fellowship website|date = June 13, 2012|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121113154705/http://www.thielfellowship.org/2012/06/peter-thiel-announces-2012-class-of-20-under-20-thiel-fellows-2/|archive-date = November 13, 2012}}{{cite news|url=https://techcrunch.com/2012/06/14/nuclear-fusion-3d-printing-biomedical-imaging-what-thiels-new-20-under-20-fellows-are-attacking/|title = Nuclear Fusion, 3D Printing, Biomedical Imaging: What Thiel's New 20 Under 20 Fellows Are Attacking|last = Cutler|first = Kim-Mai|date = June 14, 2012|work = TechCrunch}} That year, the fellowship launched a website called "20 Under 20 Documentary Series" that features an online documentary series of four Thiel Fellowship recipients.{{cite web|date=2012|title=About the Series: 20 under 20|url=http://www.20u.org/about|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131018012917/http://www.20u.org/about|archive-date=October 18, 2013|access-date=April 20, 2013|publisher=The Thiel Foundation}}{{cite web|date=August 23, 2012|title=20 Under 20 Documentary Highlights Entrepreneurial Potential of Education Dropouts|url=http://www.eduinreview.com/blog/2012/08/20-under-20-documentary-highlights-entrepreneurial-excellence/|access-date=June 8, 2018|website=eduinreview.com|publisher=Education in Review}}

The third class (announced in May 2013) included 22 fellows working on projects from garment manufacturing and B2B web products to ARM powered servers and biomedicine. The class included 7 fellows from outside of the US.{{cite web|url = http://www.fastcoexist.com/1682017/this-years-thiel-fellows-include-a-fashion-designer-a-poet-and-a-harvard-dropout| title = This Year's Thiel Fellows Include A Fashion Designer, A Poet, And A Harvard Dropout

| work = Co.Exist

| date = May 13, 2013}}

In early February 2025, Elon Musk used several Thiel Fellows in an attempt to take over operations of the Department of the Treasury through the Trump Administration's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).{{cite web |last1=Elliot |first1=Victoria |title=The Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon Musk’s Government Takeover |url=https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-government-young-engineers/ |website=Wired.com |access-date=4 February 2025}}

Reception

=Initial perspectives=

Initially, Thiel's announcement of the Fellowship met with diverse responses. Some, such as Jacob Weisberg, criticized Thiel's proposal for its utopianism and attack on the importance of education.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newsweek.com/2010/10/18/what-s-wrong-with-silicon-valley-libertarianism.html |last = Weisberg|first = Jacob|title=What's Wrong with Silicon Valley Libertarianism |magazine=Newsweek |date= October 18, 2010|access-date=October 19, 2010}} Others, such as academic Vivek Wadhwa, expressed skepticism about whether the success or failure of the Thiel Fellowship would carry any broader lessons regarding the value of higher education or the wisdom of dropping out.{{cite news|url=https://techcrunch.com/2011/04/12/friends-don%E2%80%99t-let-friends-take-education-advice-from-peter-thiel/|last = Wadhwa|first = Vivek|title = Friends Don't Let Friends Take Education Advice From Peter Thiel|date = April 12, 2011|work = TechCrunch}} In May 2011, shortly after the first Thiel Fellows were named, the admissions office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) congratulated two of its students for receiving the Fellowship; both MIT students would, the blog stated, be able to return to MIT to resume studies after completing the two-year fellowship if they desired.{{cite web|url=http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/incentive_to_drop_out|title = Incentive to Drop Out|publisher = MIT Admissions Blog|date = May 26, 2011|last = McGann|first = Mike|access-date = June 23, 2012}}

A year after first Fellows were named, opinions on the program ranged from the skeptical and critical to the laudatory and optimistic. In 2012, Eric Markowitz offered a mixed review of the Thiel Fellowship in Inc. magazine.{{cite web | author = Markowitz, Eric | date = October 16, 2012 | title = Examining the Thiel Fellowship: Is It Worthwhile? | work = Inc. Magazine | url=http://www.inc.com/eric-markowitz/examing-the-thiel-fellowship-is-it-worthwhile.html | access-date=November 27, 2012}} In 2013 the program attracted criticism for its limited results. In April, an article by Richard Nieva for PandoDaily took a close look at how the first batch of Thiel Fellows had fared, finding that some had succeeded and others planned to return to school in the fall once their two years were up.{{cite news|last=Nieva|first=Richard|date=April 24, 2013|title=Examining the Thiel Fellowship: Where are they now?|work=PandoDaily|url=http://pandodaily.com/2013/04/24/examining-the-thiel-fellowship-where-are-they-now/|url-status=dead|access-date=June 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623084149/https://pando.com/2013/04/24/examining-the-thiel-fellowship-where-are-they-now/|archive-date=June 23, 2015}} In September, Vivek Wadhwa wrote that the Fellowship had failed to produce notable successes to date, and its limited successes were instances where its Fellows were collaborating with experienced individuals.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/singularity/2013/09/11/peter-thiel-promised-flying-cars-instead-we-got-caffeine-spray/|title = Billionaire's Failed Education Experiment Proves There's No Shortcut To Success|last = Wadhwa|first = Vivek|date = September 11, 2013|access-date = September 15, 2013|magazine = Forbes}} Also in October, former Harvard University President Larry Summers, speaking at The Nantucket Project conference, said:

I think the single most misdirected bit of philanthropy in this decade is Peter Thiel's special program to bribe people to drop out of college.{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2013/10/10/thiel-fellows-program-is-most-misdirected-piece-of-philanthropy-says-larry-summers/|title = Thiel Fellows Program Is 'Most Misdirected Piece Of Philanthropy', Says Larry Summers|last = Ferenstein|first = Gregory|date = October 10, 2013|access-date = April 14, 2014}}{{cite web|url = http://valleywag.gawker.com/summers-thiel-fellows-is-most-misdirected-piece-of-ph-1443939868/all|title = Summers: Thiel Fellows Is 'Most Misdirected Piece Of Philanthropy'|last = Tiku|first = Nitasha|date = October 11, 2013|access-date = April 14, 2014|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140415062417/http://valleywag.gawker.com/summers-thiel-fellows-is-most-misdirected-piece-of-ph-1443939868/all|archive-date = April 15, 2014}}{{cite news|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/10/14/summers-thiel-misdirected/|title = Summers: Thiel Fellowship 'The Single Most Misdirected Bit of Philanthropy in This Decade'|last = Weinstock|first = Samuel Y.|date = October 14, 2013|access-date = April 14, 2014|newspaper = The Harvard Crimson}}

Thiel Fellow Dan Friedman, also a mentor for the Fellowship, published an October 2013 op-ed response, restating in TechCrunch the Fellowship's thesis, and arguing that liberal arts education was becoming less relevant.{{cite news|url = https://techcrunch.com/2013/10/13/of-course-larry-summers-hates-the-thiel-fellowship/|title = Of Course Harvard's Larry Summers Hates The Thiel Fellowship|last1 = Silver|first1 = Darrell|last2 = Friedman|first2 = Dan|date = October 13, 2013|access-date = April 14, 2014|work = TechCrunch}} In a supportive December 2013 Wall Street Journal article, the Thiel Fellowship and its recipient's accomplishements were summarized, up to that point, in this way: "64 Thiel Fellows have started 67 for-profit ventures, raised $55.4 million in angel and venture funding, published two books, created 30 apps and 135 full-time jobs, and brought clean water and solar power to 6,000 Kenyans who needed it."{{cite news|url=https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303330204579250142741126468|title = Why a Nonprofit Backs Dropping Out of School: PayPal Founder's Foundation Encourages Learning by Doing|last = Kolodny|first = Lora|date = December 18, 2013|access-date = January 28, 2014|newspaper = Wall Street Journal}}

=Longer term perspectives=

{{expand section | with = further interim and up-to-date persectives, rather than stopping the reporting at 2013, or providing a single view | small = no | date = December 2024}}

In October 2023, the Washington Post reported that: "Eleven of the 271 recipients of the Thiel Fellowship have founded unicorns so far, an impressive accomplishment that doesn’t even take into account the inspiring innovations of other fellows and the many exciting projects yet to mature."{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/10/19/thiel-s-unicorn-success-is-awkward-for-colleges/93db4230-6e6a-11ee-b01a-f593caa04363_story.html|title = Thiel's Unicorn Success Is Awkward for Colleges|last1 = Brown|first1 = Aaron|last2 = Dewey|first2 = Richard|date = October 19, 2023|access-date = March 26, 2024|newspaper = The Washington Post}}

Recipients

=Notable recipients=

Notable recipients include the following people (with the year they were awarded the fellowship is indicated in parentheses):

Laura Deming (2011) – founder and partner at Longevity Fund.{{cn|date=December 2024}}
Dale J. Stephens (2011) – founder of Year On, formerly UnCollege.{{cite news|date=August 12, 2012|title=Dale Stephens: 'Unschoolers create their education'|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/dale-stephens-unschoolers-create-their-education/2011/08/22/gIQAp3VMjJ_story.html}}
Dylan Field (2012) – co-founder and CEO of Figma{{Citation|title=Austin Russell|url=https://techcrunch.com/2013/06/26/21-years-4-million-dollars/|website=TechCrunch|date=June 27, 2013 |access-date=May 20, 2021}}
Taylor Wilson (2012) – the second youngest person to produce nuclear fusion.{{Cite news|title=The Boy Who Played With Fusion|language=en|work=Popular Science|url=http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-02/boy-who-played-fusion|access-date=August 7, 2017}}
Ritesh Agarwal (2013) – founder & CEO of OYO Rooms.{{cn|date=December 2024}}
William LeGate (2013) – CEO of Pillow Fight; previously Good Pillow.{{cn|date=December 2024}}
Austin Russell (2013) – founder and CEO of Luminar Technologies, the world's youngest self-made billionaire as of 2021.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Austin Russell|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/austin-russell/?sh=6ecafc266aa8|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=January 5, 2021|website=Forbes}}
Vitalik Buterin (2014) – co-creator of Ethereum.{{Cite news|last=Snyder|first=Benjamin|date=June 23, 2017|title=Meet Vitalik Buterin, the 23-year-old founder of bitcoin rival ethereum|work=CNBC|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/22/meet-vitalik-buterin-the-founder-of-bitcoin-rival-ethereum.html|url-status=live|access-date=March 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129222518/https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/22/meet-vitalik-buterin-the-founder-of-bitcoin-rival-ethereum.html|archive-date=January 29, 2018}}
Lucy Guo (2014) - co-founder Scale.AI, founder of Passes.{{Cite news|url= https://www.businessinsider.com/list-tech-power-players-alumni-of-peter-thiels-fellowship-2023-1|title= Many of tech's power-players are alumni of Peter Thiel's controversial fellowship, which pays entrepreneurs to drop out of college. See how they made their millions}}
Stacey Ferreira (2015) – co-founder of the gig worker platform, Forge.{{cn|date=December 2024}}
Simon Tian (2015) – founder of Neptune, Fonus.{{cn|date=December 2024}}
Cathy Tie (2015) – founder of Ranomics, Partner at Cervin Ventures{{Cite web|title=Cervin Team – Cervin Ventures|url=https://www.cervinventures.com/cervin-team/|access-date=November 17, 2018|website=www.cervinventures.com|language=en-US}}
Joey Krug (2016) – founder of decentralized prediction market platform Augur, later co-CIO at Pantera Capital, partner at Founders Fund.{{cn|date=December 2024}}
Boyan Slat (2016) – founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/20/thiel-benioff-backing-22-year-olds-dream-to-clean-up-worlds-oceans.html|title=Thiel, Benioff backing 22-year-old's dream to clean up world's oceans|last=CNBC.com|first=Susan Caminiti, special to|website=CNBC |date=April 22, 2017|access-date=July 14, 2017}}
Shahed Khan (2017) – co-founder of Loom, Inc..{{cn|date=December 2024}}
Lani Lazzari (2017) – worked on skincare for sensitive skins.{{what|date=December 2024}}{{cn|date=December 2024}}
Iddris Sandu (2018) – co-founder of Spatial Labs.{{cn|date=December 2024}}
Joshua Browder (2018) – founder & CEO of legal startup DoNotPay.{{Cite web |last=fortune.com |first=Aron Solomon, special to |date=September 20, 2022 |title=Meet the college dropout who invested in Figma–and 22 other Thiel Fellows |url=https://fortune.com/2022/09/20/meet-college-dropout-invested-figma-thiel-fellows-adobe-success-investing-venture-capital-aron-solomon |access-date=October 3, 2022}}
Erin Smith (2018) – creator of software to detect Parkinson's Disease.{{cn|date=December 2024}}
Shane Curran (2020) – worked on security software for developers.{{what|date=December 2024}}{{cn|date=December 2024}}

References

External links

{{official website|https://www.thielfellowship.org}}
[http://www.thielfellowship.org/fellows/ Full list of Thiel Fellowship Fellows]

Category:Fellowships