Because the country suffers from a “fear of success, billionaire investor Pete Thiel feels that Germany lacks global-scale entrepreneurs like Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg.
Speaking on the MDMEETS podcast, Thiel said German entrepreneurs are not only risk-averse but also hesitant to embrace success at scale, according to a report by Fortune. “If you have something that works—you’re not going to scale it to this extreme degree like an Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg,” he explained. He argues that German founders often exit early instead of scaling companies into global giants, leaving the nation behind in innovation and wealth creation. Instead, founders tend to sell or exit before their companies become truly global businesses.
6 globally on the Fortune Global 500 in 2017, but has since fallen to No. 13, weighed down by its emissions scandal and intensifying competition from Chinese EV makers. The company recently approved a major restructuring plan that includes cutting its model lineup roughly in half and eliminating 50,000 jobs, on top of another 50,000 cuts already agreed to over the past two years — with its stock down more than 35% year to date.
Thiel’s broader critique lands at a difficult moment for Germany’s traditional economic engine: its automotive industry. Volkswagen, long Europe’s largest company by revenue, ranked as high as No.