Co-founded PayPal, was the first outside investor in Facebook, and co-founded Palantir in 2003 with CIA seed money via In-Q-Tel. Founded Founders Fund in 2005 with Howery and Nosek. Backed Trump in 2016 when almost no one else in tech did, and funded JD Vance's 2022 Senate run with $15M, the largest individual donation to a Senate candidate at the time. Founders Fund's $1B check into Anduril in 2025 was the firm's largest ever. Thiel is the hub of this map: Palantir, Anduril, Founders Fund, and 8VC all trace back to him or his co-founders.

PayPal co-founder and first CFO. Co-founded Founders Fund. Served as US ambassador to Sweden during the first Trump term (2019–21). Nominated for Denmark in December 2024, confirmed by the Senate on October 7, 2025, and presented credentials in Copenhagen on November 5, 2025, in the middle of the Greenland dispute. Trump's nomination statement said US ownership of Greenland was 'an absolute necessity.' A direct line from a defense-tech fund's founders to a sitting diplomatic post.

PayPal co-founder. Co-founded Founders Fund and led its early SpaceX investment. Left in 2017 to start Gigafund, a SpaceX-concentrated fund. Included here as a founder; he is not currently a Founders Fund partner.

Joined Founders Fund in 2014 after five years at Palantir, where he sold to intelligence agencies. Co-founded Anduril in 2017 and serves as its executive chairman while remaining a Founders Fund partner, so he sits on both sides of the fund's largest investment. Worked on the 2016 Trump transition team for the Defense Department.

Co-created the Mosaic browser and co-founded Netscape. Started a16z with Ben Horowitz in 2009; the firm now manages around $45B. Sits on Meta's board. Published the 'Techno-Optimist Manifesto' in 2023, endorsed Trump in July 2024, and has been an informal adviser to the administration on tech policy.

Ran Opsware, sold it to HP for $1.6B, then co-founded a16z. Endorsed Trump alongside Andreessen in July 2024, then said in October 2024 he would personally donate to Harris; the firm's political posture has been Andreessen's more than his.

Former Washington Post reporter, then a partner at General Catalyst, where she backed Anduril early. Joined a16z in 2021 and launched American Dynamism in 2022, the practice that made 'build for the nation' a venture category. The most explicit ideological voice on the map; her essays argue defense investing is a civic duty.

Founded Thrive in 2010; best known for early bets on Instagram, Stripe, and OpenAI. Co-founded Oscar Health. Brother of Jared Kushner, married to Karlie Kloss, and a Democratic donor, which makes Thrive politically the odd one out on this map. Co-led Anduril's 2026 round at $61B. Thrive does not comment on its LPs; CalPERS is documented via FOIA.

Has run General Catalyst since the late 2010s and reshaped it around a 'global resilience' thesis spanning defense, healthcare, and energy. Co-founded Livongo. Under him GC backed Anduril, Saronic, Applied Intuition, Vannevar, and Epirus, and bought an Ohio hospital system, an unusual move for a VC.

Co-founded Palantir in 2003 while still at Stanford, then Addepar. Founded 8VC in 2015 in Austin. Co-founded the University of Austin and the Cicero Institute, a policy shop pushing state-level legislation. A major Republican donor. Early money in Anduril, Saronic, Epirus, and Chaos; the second node of the Thiel network.

Co-founded Lux in 2000 as a deep-tech fund before that was a category. Sits on Anduril's board, led Hadrian's early rounds, and backs Primer and Saildrone. One of the earliest VC voices arguing publicly, around 2016–18, that Silicon Valley should build weapons.

Founded Valor in Chicago in 2001. Early investor in Tesla and SpaceX; sat on Tesla's board from 2007 to 2021 and sits on SpaceX's. Led Anduril's $1.48B Series E in 2022. From early 2025 he was one of about ten DOGE staffers detailed to the Social Security Administration on a one-year 'expert' appointment, tasked with death data and improper payments; he used the access to push claims about noncitizen Social Security numbers at Musk's Wisconsin rally, which court filings suggested exceeded his authorized scope. By mid-2025 he was leading DOGE's immigration task force with DHS. He remained Valor's CEO throughout, managing money that includes state and local pension funds.

Former PayPal CFO, so another PayPal alumnus. Led Sequoia globally from 2022 until November 2025, when he handed stewardship to Alfred Lin and Pat Grady and moved to an advisory role. His tenure covered the China and India spin-offs and the Maguire controversy, in which he publicly defended Maguire rather than issue a firm apology. Sequoia was not a defense investor until recently; under Botha it let Maguire lead rounds in Mach and Neros.

The two partners now running Sequoia. Lin, a partner since 2010, led Airbnb, DoorDash, and Kalshi. Grady has run growth investing since 2015 and led ServiceNow, OpenAI, and Harvey. Neither is a defense specialist; whether Sequoia's defense bets continue under them is an open question.

Caltech physics PhD who co-founded Expanse, a DARPA-funded cybersecurity company sold to Palo Alto Networks for about $1B in 2020. Joined Sequoia in 2019 and became its defense lead, driving the Mach and Neros bets alongside SpaceX and xAI. In July 2025 he called NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani an 'Islamist' on X; a petition signed by roughly 900 founders and tech workers demanded Sequoia act. The firm did not discipline him. Its COO, Sumaiya Balbale, resigned in August 2025 over the posts, and the episode was a factor in the November 2025 leadership change.

PayPal's first COO, founded Yammer, sold it to Microsoft. Started Craft Ventures in 2017 and co-hosts the All-In podcast. Named White House AI and crypto czar in December 2024 as a special government employee, capped at 130 working days a year, which let him keep Craft. He sold his personal crypto but kept Craft's stakes, including in Anduril; the government waived the conflicts. Stepped down as czar in March 2026 and was named co-chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, whose members are mostly AI investors and executives. Craft led Allen Control Systems' Series A, a company the government is now a customer for.

Not a private investor. In-Q-Tel is a nonprofit set up by the CIA in 1999 and funded by the intelligence community; Bowsher took over from long-time CEO Chris Darby in 2023. Included because In-Q-Tel is a co-investor in Hermeus and Primer, meaning the government funds startups that then sell back to it.