President Donald Trump has pulled fringe tech figures out of the shadows and into the corridors of power, inspiring others in those circles to seek similar influence.
Author and Silicon Valley reporter Jonathan Weber joined The Daily Beast Podcast to explain why so many tech oligarchs are drawn to the 80-year-old president, arguing that it all comes down to ideas and ambitions that have become mainstream under Trump.
Weber, whose book City on the Edge examines San Francisco’s transformation into a global technology capital, told host Hugh Dougherty that the “rise of Trump” has turned right-wing “fringe figures,” such as investor David Sacks and former PayPal CEO Peter Thiel, into “assets.”
“Certain longstanding right-wing figures like Thiel and David Sacks … were suddenly vaulted to the top echelons of power,” Weber said.
Sacks, 54, served as President Donald Trump’s Special Advisor on AI and Crypto before moving on to co-chair the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
During his time in the role, the South African entrepreneur—whose net worth is estimated between $2 billion and $3.1 billion—also promoted his podcast All-In. The show, which he co-hosts with fellow Silicon Valley venture capitalists Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, and David Friedberg, covers topics including economics, investment, technology, and current affairs.
“He’s a longtime right-winger,” Weber said, adding that Sacks was once co-editor of The Stanford Review—an independent, conservative-libertarian campus newspaper—while attending college.
After Stanford, Sacks co-authored a book with Thiel—both of whom later became part of the so-called “PayPal Mafia”—criticizing political correctness, speech codes, and declining academic standards in higher education.
Thiel, 58, whose net worth is estimated at $27.6 billion, has reportedly left the U.S. for Argentina this year to live in a $12 million mansion, citing concerns about the country’s direction under the president he helped put in office—specifically, fears of nuclear war and an artificial-intelligence takeover.
Still, the German-American entrepreneur was one of the first tech oligarchs to support Trump, later becoming a key figure on technology matters and donating $1.25 million to Trump’s first presidential campaign.
Though the support of Thiel and Sacks, given their longstanding political views, is not surprising, Weber explained that there is a difference regarding Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, 42, and his support for Trump and the MAGA movement.
“Zuckerberg in particular is a guy who lacks a real moral center of his own, so he kind of shifts with the wind,” Weber said, adding: “He was a big liberal when it was fashionable to be that, and now he’s a sort of chain-wearing martial arts dude and Trump supporter.”
Zuckerberg has been cozying up to Trump since the start of his second term, attending his inauguration alongside other big-name billionaires with a combined net worth of $1.35 trillion.
According to a Financial Times investigation, the CEO has since undergone a major shift in style, with Meta staff reportedly calling him “MAGA Mark.”
“It’s a strange thing to see,” Weber said. “What it looks like is just somebody shifting to whatever supports their business interests and their financial interests and their power,” he added.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Zuckerberg, Thiel, and Sacks’ representatives for comment.
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