President-elect Donald Trump is planning to offer jobs to two people who have ties with billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel. If all goes well, Balaji Srinivasan and Jim O'Neill could be working within the Food and Drug Administration in the near future.
Sean Spicer, a spokesman for the president-elect, said a meeting among Trump, Srinivasan and O'Neill will take place in order to talk about the possible job offers, The Hill reported. Both Srinivasan and O'Neill had previously criticized the regulator.
Srinivasan claimed that the regulator is putting a downward pressure on innovation. O'Neill took an issue on the FDA's authority to regulate drugs and questioned the regulator's power when it comes to selling organs. If their earlier comments against the FDA are any indication, the regulator could be up for a shakeup.
Srinivasan and O'Neill are Silicon Valley associates of billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel, who have supported Trump's campaign. Srinivasan's startup is a recipient of funding from Thiel, while O'Neill is an employee at Mithril Capital Management co-founded by the billionaire tech investor.
Thiel, who is also a co-founder of PayPal, continues to support Trump. In a recent interview, Thiel said he does not expect the president-elect to work against gay rights, Techspot reported. Despite his support for the president-elect, it appears that Thiel will not go along with some of Trump's idea.
Thiel has explicitly said that his Palantir, a data-mining company where he serves as chairman, will not help Trump build a Muslim registry. Creating a Muslim registry is supposedly part of Trump's plan to combat domestic and international terrorism.
Trump's close association with billionaires and players in the business world is not surprising given that he is a businessman before he aimed for the presidency. Some, however, are seeing it as a red flag that the president-elect may prioritize corporations over others. Jobs & Hire previously reported that Alibaba's Jack Ma promised one million jobs to Trump.
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