Kabir Singh Bawa
Many people enjoy ascribing meaning to the behavior and actions of elite politicians, celebrities – and especially billionaires. They read volumes into their every move, like studying tea leaves or predicting whole futures from the position and movement of the stars. So Peter Thiel’s decision to relocate to Argentina has elicited exactly the reaction one would expect. Thiel is the billionaire co-founder of PayPal and Palantir. Whenever he does anything unusual, the speculation begins within hours, growing more and more outlandish with every attempt to explain his actions. Is he finally fleeing the US? Is he seeking refuge from a wealth tax? Is he insuring himself against doomsday in anticipation of civilizational collapse?
For much of the 21st century, journalists have read Thiel’s actions as a sort of front-running signal about the future of politics. When he bought land and homes abroad, it became the centerpiece of a discussion around the Silicon Valley elite’s preparation for the apocalypse. When he backed Donald Trump in 2016, it was taken as evidence that the tech industry was abandoning the progressive slant it had adopted up to that point. When his enthusiasm for Trump seemed to cool off ahead of the 2024 election, observers took it to mean a broader rift was coming between populist politics and tech.
