In my opinion, one of the smartest guys around. He is regognized as a founder of PayPal, president of the hedge fund Clarium Capital, managing partner of the venture-capital firm Founders Fund, and one of the early angel investors in Facebook. His networth is currently at some $1.5 billion.
He wrote this article [The End of the Future] last fall. I RECOMMEND you to read this, if you find time. It's quite a lot (some 6-7 pages), but it's worth it.
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/ ... eter-thiel