Peter Thiel and His Associates Are Creating Their Own Bank (And Yes, It Features a Tolkien-Inspired Name)

0
10كيلو بايت

Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse in 2023 left a hole in the tech industry. For years, the bank poured money into the Bay Area’s riskier startups, allowing those companies to pursue their various “disruptive” aims. Eventually, mismanagement led that business model to collapse. Now, billionaire Palantir founder Peter Thiel and several of his pals want to fill the void left by SVB by launching their own bank dedicated to backing the industry’s riskier bets.

Multiple outlets have reported that the new bank will be called Erebor, named so after the “Lonely Mountain” from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. If you’ll recall, the Lonely Mountain is where Smaug, the great and terrible dragon, lives. Basic literary analysis tells us that Smaug (like most dragons) is a symbolic embodiment of avarice and greed.

Anyway, Erebor—like SVB before it—will funnel money to the tech industry’s startup economy, the Financial Times reports. A filing associated with the bank states that it will “differentiate itself” by assisting businesses that “are not well served by traditional or disruptive financial institutions, in particular with respect to insufficient access to credit.” That will reportedly include cryptocurrency companies. Though it will likely serve many California companies, the bank itself will be based in Columbus, Ohio, FT writes.

Thiel is just one backer. The leader of the pack is reported to be Palmer Luckey, the founder of Anduril (another company that stole its name from the Tolkien mythos), and VR firm Oculus (which Facebook bought in 2014). Other backers include Joe Lonsdale, the co-founder of Palantir and Founder’s Fund, which is Thiel’s venture capital firm.

One clear takeaway is that this is yet another substantial power play by Thiel, Luckey, and the gang of well-heeled luminaries that increasingly seem to dominate the tech industry. Their position as a financial conduit into the next generation of startups could give them influence over companies that, in ten years time, may turn into the next Facebook or Google. That said, there is also the opportunity for this venture to—like SVB—be hugely mismanaged and collapse in a heap of withdrawn deposits.

The real takeaway is that Thiel desperately needs to stop besmirching Tolkien’s legacy by naming all of his nefarious projects after stuff from The Lord of the Rings. Seriously, how much can one dead author take? At this point, it’s almost like Thiel and his cronies are making fun of Tolkien. What’s next? A drone company named after the Nazgûl? Honestly, I wouldn’t put it past them.

Like
Love
Haha
3
البحث
الأقسام
إقرأ المزيد
Food
Perfect ribs in an hour
Alright, listen up! We're going to get juicy, tender ribs on the table in under an hour. This...
بواسطة Limpykillski Stoltenberg 2025-07-15 07:26:10 0 7كيلو بايت
Shopping
Vào đầu mùa hè, 'váy dài và quần dài' vẫn là trang phục đẹp nhất, vừa thời trang vừa che da thịt, lại đầy sự thoải mái
Váy dài và quần dài không chỉ thoải mái và thanh lịch...
بواسطة Phương Dung 2025-06-12 14:19:48 0 9كيلو بايت
غير مصنف
Josh Hawley Wants to Send Out Rebate Checks So Americans Can 'Benefit' From Trump's Tariffs
President Trump’s tariffs have generated around 20...
بواسطة BabeVibees Vũ 2025-07-29 13:40:02 0 9كيلو بايت
غير مصنف
Từ tháng 7/2025, Nhà nước hỗ trợ mức đóng bảo hiểm xã hội tự nguyện là bao nhiêu?
Mức hỗ trợ này được tính bằng tỷ lệ phần trăm (%) trên...
بواسطة idkyuhyun Thiều 2025-07-12 00:59:05 0 9كيلو بايت
غير مصنف
Ai là nhân vật EQ cao nhất Tây Du Ký? Ngoài đời có 5 kiểu người giống hệt, bạn có nằm trong số đó không?
EQ là gì và tại sao Sa Tăng lại sở hữu nó? EQ, hay...
بواسطة TrafalgarLaw29 Jacobs 2025-07-25 08:43:04 0 8كيلو بايت