A founding member of the “PayPal Mafia” is the person chosen by Donald Trump to assist the US take over Greenland. Ken Horry, who beforehand served as the net funds app’s chief monetary officer, has long-standing ties to 2 different key members of the aforementioned “mafia”: tech billionaires Elon Musk and Peter Thiel. Also referred to as
Howery, who beforehand served because the US ambassador to Sweden between 2019 and 2021 within the Trump administration, has been named Trump’s new ambassador to Denmark. Trump has stated he needs to purchase Greenland from Denmark, though officers within the Scandinavian nation have repeatedly stated the territory will not be on the market. Trump, to not be deterred, has insisted he’s going to take action and has even stated he wouldn’t rule out utilizing navy drive to seal the deal.
Howery nonetheless wants Senate affirmation for the position. If he’s, he will probably be tasked with attempting to place collectively a deal that critics have deemed “loopy.” Whereas Trump will not be notably clear about this. why He needs Greenland, an space typically agreed to be of main geostrategic significance. Through the Chilly Struggle, the US sought to construct a community of nuclear missile launch websites in Greenland particularly to be used in a “second strike” capability towards the Soviet Union. The trouble was extremely secretive and reportedly, the US by no means even informed the Danish authorities that it was doing it.
Howry’s potential inclusion in a key new administration position is extra proof of the political rise of the PayPal mafia underneath the brand new Trump administration. Like many PayPal workers, Howry and Thiel have been faculty pals at Stanford. Howery wrote for Thiel’s pupil newspaper, the Stanford Evaluate, and, collectively, the 2 would go on to type Founders Fund, a strong enterprise capital agency that has backed a number of the most profitable tech firms in Silicon Valley, together with Fb. SpaceX, and others
So far as US State Division officers are involved, Hori appears to take pleasure in an unusually colourful social life. In reality, about half a dozen occasions all through the Instances piece, reporters check with his means to “social gathering.” Howry is reportedly identified for his extravagant social outings, together with a Halloween social gathering at a fortress in Transylvania in 2022, the place Thiel and different billionaires appeared. A earlier Instances story from 2022 additionally notes how Haveri “threw a party in an imposing Nineteenth-century fortress outdoors Stockholm” in November 2020.
Through the pandemic, Musk spent vital time dwelling out of Howry’s mansion in Houston, and in 2021, he’s stated to have hosted a celebration there the place friends have been pressured to signal non-disclosure agreements. The social gathering featured Joe Rogan (who platformed Trump through the election and hosted Musk a number of occasions on his podcast), Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, “techno-optimist” doofus Jamie Whale, and different well-known VIPs. , of which there have been many individuals. Thiel has ties to the broader techno-libertarian community that circulates round him.
We beforehand reported that the Community State Motion—a wierd political motion that wishes to create its personal privately owned, cryptocurrency-powered cities—additionally plans to purchase Greenland and use it to check its technological colonization efforts. I’ve proven curiosity. Dryden Brown, CEO of the Community State-affiliated Proxy Challenge, has even claimed that the acquisition of Greenland is a part of his motion’s broader “plan”. The community state motion has acquired vital monetary help from Thiel, who additionally supported Trump throughout his first presidential run in 2016.