Ken Howery co-founded PayPal in 1998 and served as its first chief financial officer until the company's sale to eBay in 2002, after which he spent a year at eBay in corporate development and then joined Peter Thiel's Clarium Capital Management. In 2005 he co-founded Founders Fund with Thiel and Luke Nosek, where published profiles credit him with leading the firm's investments in Facebook, Quantcast, Geni and ZocDoc. He holds an economics degree from Stanford University. He has since served in United States government posts, as Ambassador to Sweden from 2019 to 2021 and as Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark from November 2025, and he no longer appears on the Founders Fund team page.
Education
B.A. Economics, Stanford University (1998)
Previous Experience
Co-founder and first Chief Financial Officer, PayPal (1998-2002)
Director of Corporate Development, eBay (2002-2003)
Vice President of Private Equity, Clarium Capital Management
United States Ambassador to Sweden (2019-2021)
United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark (from November 2025)
Notable Investments
Facebook METAZocDocQuantcastGeniZenefits
Career Timeline
1998
Co-founded PayPal and served as its first chief financial officer.
2002
Helped complete PayPal's sale to eBay and moved to eBay as director of corporate development.
2005
Co-founded Founders Fund with Peter Thiel and Luke Nosek.
2019
Was sworn in as United States Ambassador to Sweden.
2021
Concluded his service as United States Ambassador to Sweden.
2024
Was announced as the nominee for United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark.
2025
Assumed office as United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark on November 5.