Summary of Max Chafkin's The Contrarian

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Sample Book Insights:

#1 In 1980, Peter Thiel and a small group of eighth-grade boys were crammed around a table in a tiny box of a kitchen, their faces hidden behind three-ring binders that had been stood on end for privacy. Their eyes were trained on a map and a set of many-sided dice.

#2 Peter’s parents, Klaus and Susanne Thiel, had come to the United States in 1968 from Frankfurt, Germany. They were stern Republicans, and their son would absorb the sentiment.

#3 After moving to South Africa, Klaus was assigned to the Rössing Uranium Mine, which was a key part of the country’s nuclear weapons program. The family had a privileged position in comparison to the forced labor conditions of Black workers.

#4 When the family returned to Cleveland in 1972, Thiel was placed on a gifted and talented track at Bowditch Middle School, where he was widely understood to be the best. He didn’t care about being the smartest kid in the room.