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International media conglomerate Axel Springer, which owns multiple major news outlets, announced on Friday that it is awarding its 2026 Axel Springer Award to far right billionaire Peter Thiel, recognizing the Palantir co-founder for his “societal impact” and entrepreneurial feats as his company seeks to build out a mass surveillance network across the U.S.
The Axel Springer Award, the company says, “pays tribute to a person who has created new markets, reshaped existing ones in an extraordinary way, and left a lasting mark on the technological, economic, and societal debates of our time.” The press release on the announcement recognizes him for his co-founding of PayPal as well as for his work in creating Palantir, which it praises as “one of the most valuable companies of our time and one that is crucial to the resilience of democracies.”
In the past, the company has awarded its prize, which is non-monetary, to other right-wing tech giants like Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Sam Altman. The company intends to hold a ceremony for the prize on September 24 in Berlin, and will reportedly include remarks by Bari Weiss, the right-wing, pro-Israel editor-in-chief of CBS News.
Axel Springer is a Germany-based media conglomerate that owns Politico and Business Insider, as well as The Telegraph in the U.K.
Earlier this year, it was found that the company’s CEO, Mathias Döpfner, was compelling Politico employees to follow its corporate values, which include supporting the “principles of a free market economy,” as well as “the right of existence of the State of Israel.” The move was done in response to concerns expressed by Politico journalists over the outlet’s editorial integrity in relation to Döpfner staunch pro-Israel viewpoints.
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In a statement, Döpfner praised Thiel for his “nonconformism.”
“Peter Thiel is one of the rare entrepreneurs who does not merely found or finance companies but helps determine the direction of technological development. His ability to think long-term, argue against consensus, and consistently bet on innovation has inspired generations of founders,” the Axel Springer CEO said.
The company says that Thiel has been “attacked and vilified” for his work, especially regarding his remarks on the “future of Western societies.”
Thiel, a major Donald Trump ally and one of the top 100 richest people in the world, has had ties with white supremacists. He has, for decades, espoused his far right beliefs, and once wrote that he does not believe “freedom and democracy are compatible.”
Thiel recently gave a series of lectures on the threat of the supposed “antichrist” to society. In his remarks, he painted a picture of a person who makes it harder for people like him to act with impunity, lamenting the fact that “it’s become quite difficult to hide one’s money” as a show that the antichrist is on the rise. He suggested that people concerned about the climate crisis or the threats of AI could be candidates for being the antichrist, and directly named Greta Thunberg.
Thiel is a major backer of Republicans and has been credited with grooming JD Vance for the vice presidency. Under Trump, Palantir has also gotten massive contracts to compile massive amounts of data on Americans and provide AI and other software systems for the U.S. military to use in combat.
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