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
- Palmer Luckey went from living in a 19-foot camper and dropping out of college to selling Oculus to Facebook for $2 billion at age 21 and is now worth over $5 billion.
- He later founded defense firm Anduril and co‑founded tech bank Erebor (backed by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund), showing he keeps betting on big, controversial tech plays.
- Luckey and other immigrant founders argue the U.S. still offers unmatched startup opportunity—Silicon Valley remains a magnet—even as some Americans are leaving amid economic and political worries.