Peter Thiel spends $10 million backing business partner’s Senate bid
Venture capitalist Peter Thiel has put $10 million into a newly formed PAC to back a business partner’s Senate bid.
Formed on April 19th, the Saving Arizona PAC will support Thiel Capital executive Blake Masters in the Republican primary and general election, aiming for the state’s 2022 Senate race.
The PAC will put Maters at an immediate fundraising advantage in one of the most closely watched races of the cycle, which will also see former astronaut Mark Kelly defending his seat for the Democrats.
Masters came to prominence as the co-author of Thiel’s popular book, Zero to One, originated as Masters’ notes from a class Thiel taught at Stanford, and was hired shortly afterwards as an executive at Thiel Capital.
He has never held public office, his most significant government experience being a four-month stint clerking at a US Attorney’s office in 2010, the Republican candidate will be facing off against Senator Mark Kelly in 2022.
A longtime critic of liberal values, Thiel has been particularly aligned with the US Republican party since 2016 when he was an enthusiastic and public supporter of former President Trump. He has also spoken in support of Trump at the Republican National Convention.
