Kurz resigned as Chancellor at the beginning of October because of allegations of corruption.
(Photo: Reuters)
Vienna Sebastian Kurz withdrew from politics at the beginning of December, but parts of Austria’s public are still strongly fixated on the former Chancellor. For days, rumors have been circulating that Kurz has the prospect of a new job in the technology industry.
Two tabloid newspapers that have always been well-meaning to him, the “Kronenzeitung” and the news portal “Heute” reported on Thursday what it was all about: Kurz took over the somewhat vague role of “global strategist” at the investment company Thiel Capital from German-American investor Peter Thiel. The former politician is expected to take up the post in the first quarter of 2022.
The 54-year-old lawyer Thiel is considered a major investor in the Californian technology sector. At the beginning of his career he co-founded the online payment service provider Paypal; He was also one of Facebook’s early donors and a co-initiator of the data analytics firm Palantir. It is also known that Thiel invested in the online bank N26 and the music streaming provider Spotify, among other things.
However, the investor recently distanced itself from the big tech companies. “The existing Internet companies will continue to grow, no question about it, but I’m afraid that the really good, really disruptive ideas have largely been exhausted,” he said in an interview with the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” in 2019.
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As for politics, Thiel was a supporter of former US President Donald Trump. “I am far from agreeing on everything, but he names problems and tackles them,” he said in the interview. Thiel praised Trump for “rethinking” illegal migration and for taking a harder line on China than the presidents before.
Kurz’s new position is likely to be somewhere between friendship and part-time work. The politician and the businessman have known each other for a number of years. In August 2021 it became known that Thiel would receive the Frank Schirrmacher Prize, which commemorates the former co-editor of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”. Back then, the investor wanted Kurz to give the laudatory speech.
The former chancellor is interested in communication technology and uses it diligently; As a former professional politician without a degree, however, he has no in-depth knowledge in the field.
As a former head of government, Kurz has many contacts; Time and again, he has also demonstrated his talent for engaging conversation partners for himself and his ideas.
Some observers in Austria had therefore seen Kurz as predestined for higher tasks. In Vienna, for example, it was said that he would get a weighty job with a technology company. Kurz’s future function is now a few sizes smaller. Above all, it does not appear to be a post with operational responsibility.
In Austria there are two proceedings against Kurz
For the time being, companies are likely to shy away from integrating Kurz into corporate structures. After all, there are two legal proceedings pending against the former Chancellor in Austria. In October it became known that the Economic and Corruption Public Prosecutor’s Office (WKStA) is investigating Kurz and some confidants.
The prosecutors suspect companions of the ex-chancellor of having published embellished surveys in the tabloid newspaper “Austria”. The public prosecutors believe that the editors of the paper were compensated for this with money from the Ministry of Finance. According to their interpretation, Kurz is said to have instigated the faithful to these machinations. As a result, Kurz had to resign as Chancellor.
Proceedings had already been initiated against him for false testimony before the parliamentary committee of inquiry in the wake of the “Ibiza” affair.
It has not yet been decided whether the prosecutors will sue Kurz. This uncertainty is likely to hamper his career in the private sector for the time being. Hardly any company will want to afford to be named in connection with any legal proceedings against Kurz.
More: A failed exceptional talent – Sebastian Kurz is the relegated of the year.