Peter Thiel, who was granted New Zealand citizenship after spending just 12 days in the country, is slowly withdrawing his business interests in the country and giving up on plans to build a home there.
The Silicon Valley billionaire, who is a major backer of U.S. President Donald Trump and spent US$15 million on J.D. Vance’s 2022 Senate campaign, was given citizenship in 2011 by then Internal Affairs Minister Nathan Guy, under an “exceptional circumstances” clause in the law.
Thiel’s time in New Zealand amounted to less than one percent of the typical 1,350-day residency requirement. Citizenship usually also requires a strong connection to the country and a demonstration of good character.
“I am happy to say categorically that I have found no other country that aligns more with my view of the future than New Zealand,” Thiel wrote in his application, which was eventually released under the provisions of the Official Information Act.
“It would give me great pride to let it be known that I am a New Zealand citizen.”
He also said he preferred it to Australia.
“Australia is a sort of strange developed country where it’s all about exporting commodities to China. Talented people in Australia don’t really need to try that hard,” he said.
“It seems like it’s a plus, but I don’t know if it is in the long term. I think New Zealand is more attractive on the tech side than Australia would be.”
The fact that he had bypassed the usual requirements and became a citizen only came to light six years later—something Guy could not explain.
He said then that Thiel was a “great ambassador and salesperson for New Zealand,” but was unable to say why the co-founder of PayPal and Palantir Technologies had sought citizenship in the first place.
However, his friend, the entrepreneur Sam Altman, told the New Yorker in 2016 that Thiel had previously discussed flying out to the country as a backup plan in the event of a pandemic or global societal collapse.
Ventures in New Zealand
Thiel did establish an NZ-registered company called Valar Ventures, which invested in a range of technology startups in areas ranging from fintech to biotechnology. It was also the vehicle through which he bought shares in online accounting software firm Xero at a time when shares were worth just $1. They subsequently rose to $90.Valar Ventures then partnered with the government-owned New Zealand Venture Investment Fund (NZVIF) which included a buyback clause that enabled private investors to acquire government shares at their cost of capital (includes cost of debt and equity).
This arrangement shielded private investors from downside risks and granted the potential for significant returns if the investment performed well.
Through the partnership’s investments in Xero and retail software company Vend, Thiel and other private investors made an estimated $30 million after contributing under $7 million, while the NZVIF received just $10.2 million on an investment of $9 million. Thiel’s personal return was estimated at $23 million.
He also applied to build what appears to be a bunker-like estate on a lakeside site in Wanaka, an alpine South Island region known for its natural beauty and isolation, which he acquired for $13.5 million. It would have covered over 73,700 square metres (18 acres) of land.
The local council rejected that proposal, deciding that the complex—which included visitor accommodation for up to 24 guests—would have too great a negative impact on the surrounding landscape. An appeal to the Environment Court subsequently failed.
But as recently as August last year, Thiel seemed undeterred by this setback, telling American podcaster Joe Rogan that he was considering a permanent move to New Zealand motivated by what he called California’s “confiscatory taxation.”
Now, however, Thiel seems to have lost interest in his South Pacific bolthole and has applied for Valar to be deregistered.
With German citizenship from birth and having been naturalised in the United States, he still has three citizenships from which to choose.
