There is a TikTok trend running right now built on the premise that 2026 is the new 2016. Creators are pulling out decade-old sounds, filters, and dances and repackaging them with minimal modification. The comment sections are full of people who were teenagers in 2016 responding as though they have been shown something precious that they had forgotten existed. Ten years, apparently, is the threshold at which recent pop culture tips into nostalgia.

The Thiel Foundation has officially unveiled its 2026 class of Thiel Fellows, awarding a new cohort of young entrepreneurs the resources and runway to pursue their most ambitious ideas outside conventional institutional paths.

Established in 2011, the two-year Fellowship grants each recipient $250,000 over the course of the program, along with access to a network spanning tech founders, investors, scientists, and alumni fellows. In exchange, fellows commit to working full-time on their projects, companies, or ideas. The program has long distinguished itself by investing in the individual as much as the venture — a deliberate departure from credential-driven gatekeeping.