Are you saying that Peter Thiel should have known that he would turn PayPal into a multibillion dollar business, and because of this, the shares were not really worthless?

EDIT: That was sarcastic, but re-reading, that basically is what the article is saying:

> Get a sweetheart deal to buy a stake in a startup that has a good chance of one day exploding in value.

20-20 hindsight