It's safe to say that most tech heavyweights don't want Republican candidate Donald Trump elected, but there's one big exception: Peter Thiel.
According to The New York Times, the PayPal co-founder and conservative billionaire has committed $1.25 million to help Trump win. Part of that money will go to super PAC donations and the rest will go directly to Trump's campaign, the report notes, citing a source close to Thiel.
"The source, who requested anonymity, said the investor feels the country needs fixing, and Mr. Trump can do it," the Times reports.
The donation from Thiel, who spoke at the Republican National Convention, puts him "on a very short list of big Trump contributors," the Times points out. That list also includes Renaissance Technologies hedge fund boss Robert Mercer, who with his daughter Rebekah Mercer has donated $15.5 million to Trump's campaign, and Los Angeles Developer Geoffrey Palmer, who has donated $2 million.
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Thiel is in the minority among those in the tech community. Nearly 150 Silicon Valley execs and investors released a letter in July criticizing Trump over just about everything. That includes a number of household names in the tech sector — Steve Wozniak, Vint Cerf, Vinod Khosla, Pierre Omidyar, Mark Pincus, and Chris Sacca — who argue that "Trump would be a disaster for innovation." Another billionaire Internet entrepreneur, Dustin Moskovitz, who co-founded Facebook and Asana, recently committed $20 million to help Hillary Clinton beat Trump
Thiel last made headlines earlier this year for bankrolling Hulk Hogan's invasion-of-privacy lawsuit against gossip site Gawker Media.