A dropout living in a trailer, he got $1 million from Peter Thiel at 19—now he’s a billionaire who says the American Dream isn’t dead
Billionaire Palmer Luckey sold Oculus to Facebook for $2 billion by 21 years old—and says that kind of break "isn't happening in China."
Palmer Luckey, a self-made billionaire and the founder of Oculus and Anduril, believes that the American Dream is still alive and well. Luckey, who dropped out of college at 19 and lived in a trailer, was given $1 million by Peter Thiel to start Oculus, which was later acquired by Facebook for $2 billion. Luckey credits his success to his American upbringing and is now worth over $5 billion.
He is one of many self-made billionaires who have built their fortunes in the U.S., despite claims that opportunities are drying up. Fortune 50 AI companies are all concentrated in Silicon Valley, which has attracted ambitious people and investors, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of success.
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