Aide to Trump tech adviser picked as deputy CTO

A top aide to Peter Thiel is joining President Donald Trump's administration. Michael Kratsios, a former executive at Thiel Capital, will serve as the deputy CTO.

Kratsios, a 2008 Princeton graduate, was most recently principal and chief of staff at Thiel Capital. The appointment was first reported by Politico.

Thiel, a founder of PayPal and prominent Silicon Valley investor, has been Trump's most visible technology adviser. While various other prominent Silicon Valley figures publicly supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, Thiel's early and consistent backing of Trump made him the face for Trump support coming out of Silicon Valley.

A member of the Trump transition team, Thiel played a role in setting up the December "Tech Summit," at which Trump convened leaders from Google, IBM, Apple, Intel, Facebook and Amazon, among others.

Thiel denied interest in working full-time in the administration in an interview with the New York Times.

The CTO and deputy CTO positions are relatively new, having been formally established in 2009. They advise the president on scientific, engineering and tech policy, as well as data and innovation. OSTP also leads interagency IT efforts and works with the Office of Management and Budget to annually review federal research and development programs.