The Navigator
Judgement in the fog, money, risk and the call others cannot make.
Max Chafkin earns The Navigator by reading the ideological currents that run beneath business events, tracing how Thiel maneuvers opportunistically through capital flows, political shifts, and loyalty networks.
“Exactly. But I think what he was trying to do was find a friendlier jurisdiction. And back then, or as a potential backup plan, right? Not necessarily where he's going to go run away from Obama. But at the time, New Zealand had a right-wing government. And it was very easy for him to acquire citizenship.”
“Because that's how, like, I think that's pretty good advice for almost any career. But particularly in journalism, I mean, you know, most good story ideas and stuff come from me anyway, come from reading things.”
“But as they saw it, Moritz was kind of, and the kind of sequoia way was about preserving sequoias, you know, internal rate of return. It wasn't about helping the entrepreneur. And they were going to be different.”
“Because I think it very much helped shape public opinion. He actually cribbed it from an Atlantic story, so he probably should give credit to that. But in any case, it definitely helps shape opinion around Trump.”
Masters in Business: “Max Chafkin on the Social Good of Tech Companies (Podcast)”
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