Billionaire denies report that he might be Trump's pick for ambassador to Germany

pulse

January 20, 2017 12:32 AM

A Thiel spokesperson told Business Insider via email that the "story is not true," without providing further elaboration.

President Trump and Peter Thiel.

Billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel is not in the running to be the next United States ambassador to Germany, according to one of his representatives who shot down a recent report in the New York Post.

Thiel, President-elect Donald Trump's most prominent supporter in Silicon Valley, has repeatedly said that he has no interest in government work — but, earlier this week, rumors circulated that Thiel was mulling a bid for governor of California.

The New York Post cited anonymous sources close to Thiel who suggested that he might see a German ambassadorship as a stepping stone into politics, or merely a way to get out from the wave of negativity he's facing in Silicon Valley in the wake of his controversial support for Trump's campaign.

Thiel was a cofounder of PayPal, the electronic payment service, and was an early investor in Facebook.

Meanwhile, Trump's team has ordered all ambassadors appointed by President Obama to leave their posts by Friday, Inauguration Day, signaling a broader shakeup in policy.

The good news for him is that, should he get the job, Peter Thiel already speaks fluent German, having been born in West Germany before coming to the United States as a young child.

Representatives for Donald Trump's team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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