German-American entrepreneur Peter Thiel – also referred to as the ‘Don of the PayPal Mafia’ is quickly emerging into light lately. Not only is he known for his varied philanthrophic pursuits but his political interests are also becoming the talk of the town. Things naturally changed when he was named the executive committee of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team back in November, 2016.
The American venture capitalist has made the headlines again, thanks to its wide-ranging interview with The New York Times where he seemed to have made several eyebrow-raising statements.
Thiel, when asked whether the age of Apple was over in the Confirm/Deny session with Maureen Dowd with NYT, answered, “Confirm. We know what a smartphone looks like and does. It’s not the fault of Tim Cook, but it’s not an area where there will be any more innovation.” This sure is a hard-to-imagine scenario as Apple’s recent iPhone 7 launch has done quite well in terms of market share. Moreover, its increasing number of speculations and rumours that appear to have been hyping the iPhone 8 launch later this year suggest otherwise. Apple hasn’t responded to this statement yet.
Thiel was also asked whether Google had too much power in the Obama administration. “Confirm. Google had more power under Obama than Exxon had under Bush 43,” he replied.
He was also asked whether Trump was similar to Tesla CEO Elon Musk. He replied, saying, “I’m going to get in trouble, but they are, actually. They’re both grandmaster-level salespeople and these very much larger-than-life figures.”
