July 17, 2026, 12:48 p.mJuly 17, 2026, 12:48 p.m
The controversial US billionaire Peter Thiel receives the Axel Springer Award. The aim is to honor a personality “who has created new markets in an extraordinary way, changed existing markets and had a lasting impact on the technological, economic and social debates of our time,” said the media company Axel Springer.
Peter Thiel in 2016.Image: AP/AP
It was said that Thiel wanted to come to Berlin for the award ceremony on September 24th. Thiel is one of the rare entrepreneurs who not only founds or finances companies, but also helps determine the direction of technological development, Springer boss Mathias Döpfner is quoted in the statement. “His ability to think long-term, argue against consensus and consistently focus on innovation has inspired generations of founders.”
Thiel is known for his closeness to Trump
Thiel, who comes from Germany, is an IT investor and co-founder of the software company Palantir. He is known for his libertarian and right-wing conservative positions, his closeness to US President Donald Trump and his criticism of liberal democracies.
Recently, reports about Thiel’s apocalyptic worldview have also brought his religious ideology into the public eye. The question of whether security agencies should rely on Palantir’s controversial data analysis products has sparked debate in various countries.
The non-endowed Axel Springer Award honors personalities who are changing markets in an outstanding way as entrepreneurs. In the past, Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and the inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, have received awards. (hkl/sda/awp/dpa)