Thiel has focused his efforts as entrepreneur and investor on new technologies, notably the Internet, that may create a new space for freedom.

Judge as of 2009-04-13. True: Thiel's documented record as an entrepreneur and investor up to April 2009 (e.g. PayPal, Facebook investment, Clarium, Founders Fund and other ventures, plus any Seasteading or similar support) is mainly in new technologies, notably the Internet, that were plausibly presented as widening individual freedom, with his main ventures fitting that description. Mostly true: his efforts were largely in such technologies, but a notable share of his work (e.g. a macro hedge fund such as Clarium) does not fit, or the link to freedom is weak for some major ventures. Mixed: about half of his main efforts fit the description. Mostly false: tech ventures were only a small part of his activity, or the 'freedom' framing is a later relabelling with little support from the record. False: the record shows his efforts were mainly outside new technologies. How sincere his motives were is not tested beyond what the record shows.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 Facebook's valuation: The cheat sheet - CNET CNET · 14 July 2009

   “June 2004: PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel becomes Facebook’s first outside investor. He invests $500,000 into the 4-month-old social network, which has by now taken its home base of Harvard and a scattering of other elite colleges by storm.”

2. E2 PayPal | History, Digital Payments, & Services | Britannica Money Encyclopaedia Britannica

   “Cofounded as Confinity in 1998 by entrepreneurs Peter Thiel and Max Levchin, the company launched the PayPal online payment service the following year.”

3. E3 Thiel Foundation Wikipedia · 2 June 2012 Own record

   “On April 15, 2008, Thiel pledged $500,000 to the new Seasteading Institute, directed by Patri Friedman, whose mission is "to establish permanent, autonomous ocean communities to enable experimentation and innovation with diverse social, political, and legal systems."”

Independent sources show Thiel co-founded the company that launched the PayPal online payment service in 1999 (E2) and became Facebook's first outside investor in 2004 (E1). Both are major Internet-technology ventures. E3 records his 2008 pledge to the Seasteading Institute, whose mission of autonomous communities fits the freedom framing directly. The evidence does not show PayPal or Facebook being presented as widening freedom, and it does not cover his other activities such as Clarium. That makes the claim mostly rather than fully supported.