Peter Thiel was alumnus of the year at the 2012 International Students for Liberty conference, and for good reason. He has been extremely successful, both as an entrepreneur and as an action-oriented promoter of liberty.

Although published late in 2011, The New Yorker has an insightful and lengthy exploration into Thiel’s life journey and thinking. I just got to it last week, and plenty of it surprised me. Who would have thought, for example, that he only just began texting and has yet to embrace internet phones?

If you want to familiarize yourself with the man who is breaking down paradigms through both his entrepreneurial and charitable activities, I recommend the article, “No Death, No Taxes: The libertarian futurism of a Silicon Valley billionaire.” I particularly appreciate his forward thinking nature and willingness to find ways to unravel a stagnant status quo. Consider his take on conventional education as just one example.