Haute 100 Update: PayPal Founder Peter Thiel Joins other Internet Heavyweights as Investor for Innovative Booktrack e-Book Company

Billionaire co-founder and former CEO of PayPal Peter Thiel is looking to capitalize on the ever increasing popularity of e-books by joining the team of investors in Booktrack, the Auckland, New Zealand company behind a new and engaging way to read with the incorporation of synchronized music, sound effects, and ambient sound to e-books.

“It’s difficult to imagine a movie with no soundtrack; yet, until today, the technology did not exist to synchronize music and sound within an ebook,” said Paul Cameron, Booktrack’s co-founder and CEO.  “Consider the reality of tens of millions of commuters around the world listening to a playlist that’s disconnected from what they’re reading… Instead, they can now instantly replicate a movie-like sound experience with Booktrack that fundamentally transforms their reading experience.”

In addition to PayPal, Thiel is also a member of Facebook’s board of directors and was actually the social media giant’s first external investor, so having him on board with Booktrack is very exciting for the company.

Additionally in support of the burgeoning e-book company are Sony/ATV Music Publishing and Park Road Post – who are responsible for the Academy Award-winner The Lord of the Rings soundtrack – HarperCollins Children’s Books, and Full Fathom Five, as well as numerous best-selling authors who have agreed to collaborate with Booktrack.

Other investors include Mark D’Arcy, Director of Global Creative Solutions at Facebook, and Derek Handley, CEO and Co-Founder of The Hyperfactory, who will also serve as Booktrack’s Chairman.  The company has also received financial support from the Government of New Zealand’s Ministry of Science and Innovation, and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE), the government’s national economic development agency.

Our Haute 100 list details the accomplishments of the most influential people in each of our markets. To see the entire Haute 100 San Francisco list, click here.