PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel has parted ways with start-up incubator Y Combinator.
A blog post on the company's website, which previously listed Thiel as a part-time partner, now says, "Edit: Peter Thiel is no longer affiliated with Y Combinator." BuzzFeed News previously reported on the edited post.
According to BuzzFeed, Y Combinator ended its part-time partner program, thus ending Thiel's affiliation with the firm. We asked for comments from Y Combinator and a Thiel representative but haven't heard back.
Thiel, an earlier investor in Facebook and creator of Founders Fund, and Y Combinator's Sam Altman are two of Silicon Valley's more outspoken voices and, when it comes to politics, they land in very different places.
That issue surfaced in a big way during the 2016 presidential campaign cycle. Thiel, a major Donald Trump supporter, is a libertarian who has written that "[p]olitics is about interfering with other people's lives without their consent." Altman, by contrast, has advocated for the government to take on responsibility for affordable housing, "instead of letting rich people drive it up to increase their own wealth."
However, Altman said before the election that YC is "not going to fire someone for supporting a major party nominee."
Y Combinator has gained prominence in the Bay Area for its start-up school, a rigorous process that includes mentorship and some investment dollars. Companies including Stripe, Dropbox and Airbnb have been through the program.
Thiel is the author of "Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future," a book that's widely read by founders. Thiel started PayPal with other entrepreneurs that went on to be widely successful, including LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
"Peter is one of the two people ... who has taught me the most about how to invest in startups," Altman wrote, when Thiel came on board in 2015.
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