Jim O'Neill, a central figure in the Thiel network, was confirmed as Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services on June 5, 2025, by a 52-43 vote. He was sworn in on June 9. O'Neill served as CEO of the Thiel Foundation (2009-2012), managing director of Thiel Capital (2008-2012), and managing director of Mithril Capital Management (2012-2019), a venture capital fund co-founded by Peter Thiel. He co-founded the Thiel Fellowship and Breakout Labs, both Thiel Foundation initiatives.
As HHS Deputy Secretary under Robert F. Kennedy Jr., O'Neill became the operational manager of the largest civilian department in the federal government, overseeing agencies including the FDA, CDC, NIH, and CMS. On August 28, 2025, he was additionally named Acting CDC Director after the ouster of Susan Monarez, placing a Thiel Foundation executive with no medical training in charge of the nation's disease surveillance and public health response infrastructure.
The conflict-of-interest vector runs through pharmaceutical deregulation and health technology. O'Neill has publicly advocated for allowing drugs onto the market before full efficacy testing -- a position that would directly benefit the biotech and longevity companies in which the Thiel network is heavily invested. His placement at HHS represents the Thiel network extending its reach beyond defense and technology into public health policy, with a figure whose loyalty to Thiel's ideological and commercial interests is decades deep. He departed HHS on February 13, 2026, and was subsequently nominated to lead the National Science Foundation.