“The Thiel Fellowship gives $100,000 to young people who want to build new things instead of sitting in a classroom.“
They give out 25 scholarships per year. A recent recipient created a Driverless-car startup, Luminar Technologies, which will go public in a $3.4 billion merger with blank-check company Gores Metropoulos.
The CEO at Luminar, Russell, is 25. At age 17 he received a Thiel fellowship to build out Luminar.