Despite reports of animosity between President-elect Donald Trump and Silicon Valley, longtime Trump backer and billionaire Valley luminary Peter Thiel continues to work hard on the back end to build bridges between the two camps.
This week, it seems, two Thiel associates have been enlisted to help in that effort with formal sports on the Trump transition team.
Mark Woolway, the vice president of corporate development at health benefits broker Zenefits, and Kevin Harrington, a managing director at Thiel Capital, will join so-called “landing teams.” Landing teams are focused on finding policy priorities and hiring key people into executive-branch departments.
Mr. Woolway will be joining the effort focused on the Treasury Department while Mr. Harrington will be joining the team at the Commerce Department.
“Mark will continue to serve as acting CFO at Zenefits while he helps out on the transition team,” a Zenefits spokeswoman said.
Harrington had no official comment for the press — citing a confidentiality agreement that prevents him from speaking to the press without authorization.
Woolway is a long associate of Thiel’s, having worked under him at PayPal, Clarium Capital Management (a hedge fund backed by Mr. Thiel), and Yammer Inc. (a startup supported by Mr. Thiel’s venture firm Founders Fund). Harrington is also a Clarium alumni; Thiel Capital is Mr. Thiel’s vehicle for investing his personal wealth.
The two are the latest Thiel-backed transition appointees. Two weeks ago, Trae Stephens joined the transition team at the Defense Department. Stephens used to work at Palantir Technologies — another Thiel-founded company that makes big data software for government agencies. He is currently a principal at Founders Fund.
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