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THE LIBERTARIAN BILLIONAIRE and founder of PayPal, Peter Thiel, has offered 24 overachievers $100,000 to drop out of college for two years and “pursue innovative scientific and technical projects, learn entrepreneurship and begin to build the technology companies of tomorrow”.
The entrepreneur believes that there’s a “great bubble” in higher education, and wants to encourage students to find alternative paths – he also wants to publicise the notion that education is overrated.
Thiel, who was an early investor in Facebook and earlier this year backed the Irish Collison brothers, has already chosen the lucky 24 “Thiel Fellows”.
Their mission: “to advance the frontiers of knowledge, shake up staid industries, and change the world.” The reward: a bursary of $100,000.
The talented twenty-four include (best look away now if you’re currently suffering any self-esteem issues):
What do you think of the plan? Is Peter Thiel right to emphasise entrepreneurhsip over academic qualifications – is a college education really overrated?
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What effect is the removal of roaming charges in the EU going to have on your business? I rent properties to a lot of foreign students during the summer & this year I noticed that very few bought Irish sim cards compared to previous years. This was a new trend for me. Interested to hear your thoughts?
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