Peter Thiel sold 20 million shares of Facebook just months after its IPO—but they’d be worth nearly $15 billion more if he had held on
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Just months after Facebook’s IPO, billionaire PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel cashed out at $20 a share. But they’d be worth 37 times more today—or nearly, $15 billion.
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July 1, 2025
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Fortune
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Success·BillionairesPeter Thiel sold 20 million s of Facebook just months after its IPO—but they’d be worth nearly $15 billion more if he had held onBY Preston ForeBY Preston ForeStaff Writer, EducationPreston ForeStaff Writer, EducationPreston Fore is a reporter at Fortune, covering education and personal finance for the Success team
SEE FULL BIOJust months after Facebook’s IPO, billionaire Paypal cofounder Peter Thiel cashed out at $20 a
But they’d be worth 37 times more today—or nearly, $15 billion
Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesBillionaire Peter Thiel was Facebook’s first outside investor, but he may now have regrets for how soon he cashed out
Just months after the company’s IPO, he sold millions of s for $20 each for a sum of $400 million; with the stock now worth 37 times more, he could have been $15 billion richer today
Is a game of risk and reward
Get it right, and you could build a billion-dollar fortune
Get it wrong, and it might all go up in smoke
For PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel, being the first outside Facebook investor was hardly a bust—but there may be some seller’s remorse
The entrepreneur first coughed up $500,000 in 2004 for a 10% stake in the company, just months into its creation—giving it a value of $4
Nearly a decade later, ing the company’s May 2012 IPO, Thiel decided it was time to cash out
Thiel sold 20. 1 million s in the company—a majority of his stake—for $19. 69 each, netting him $400 million at the time
Had he held his s until today, they would be worth $14. 76 billion (Meta’s stock price is $736 at the time of writing), a decision that may haunt even one of Silicon Valley’s savviest investors
What led him to in the first place
He believed the college market—which was Facebook’s original audience—had been underestimated. “I think investors always have a bias to invest in things they themselves use and they undervalue things they don’t use so they aren’t many investors who are in college,” he said to This Week in Startups in 2015
Fortune reached out to Thiel for
Facebook is a billionaire farm Despite selling a majority of his stake in the company, the 57-year-old remained heavily involved for many years, serving on the board until 2022. “Peter has been a valuable member of our board and I’m deeply grateful for everything he has done for our company—from believing in us when few others would, to teaching me so many lessons, economics, and the world,” Facebook cofounder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at the time of Thiel’s stepping down
Today, Thiel’s net worth sits at $21. 7 billion, according to Bloomberg, thanks in part to the billions he made from being the cofounder of PayPal and Palantir
And he’s not the only investor to have thrived off the success of Facebook; the social network’s growth has created countless millionaires—and multiple billionaires
Of course, no one has benefited more financially than Zuckerberg, who is currently the second richest person in the world, according to Bloomberg, with an estimated net worth of $260 billion
In fact, his worth has increased more than any other billionaire this year, with a year-to-date growth of $52
But the company’s lesser-known cofounders have also joined the billionaire, including Dustin Moskovitz ($11. 4 billion) and Eduardo rin ($40 billion), as well as former COO Sheryl Sandberg ($2. 5 billion) and former president Sean Parker ($3 billion)
The wrong sale at the wrong time While it’s possible Thiel has regrets over selling in 2012, nothing might dwarf the early pull out from Apple’s third cofounder, Ronald Wayne
He cashed out his 10% stake in the computer company for $800 just 12 days after signing the contract
Wayne’s could now be worth between $75 billion and $300 billion, thanks to the company’s now $3 trillion market cap (his s would have ly been diluted thanks to new investors and public offering)
And while Wayne has said he had no regrets at the time since he figured he would one day just be the “richest man in the cemetery,” he’s since admitted it would’ve been nice not to worry money
To make ends meet, he’s relied on renting out part of his perty, as well as cashing his monthly Social Security check. “I’ve never been rich, but I’ve never been hungry either,” he told Insider
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