The rise of Peter Thiel, the billionaire Silicon Valley Trump supporter who is speaking at the Republican National Convention

On Thursday night, Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel will do what he does best: shock people with a contrarian point of view.

He will step out on stage at the Republican National Convention and back nominee Donald Trump.

For the most part, the Silicon Valley elite, of which Thiel is a major member, are not Trump fans. (140 of them signed a letter saying Trump would be a "disaster for innovation.")

So Thiel's support of Trump is somewhat of a mystery, even to those close to Thiel.

The investor is known as one of the most successful, brilliant and colorful venture people in Silicon Valley.

If you take every classic tale of about Silicon Valley, add in a healthy does of controversy, and combine that all into one human being, you'd get Peter Thiel.