Tech billionaire Peter Thiel is facing backlash over his decision to donate $1.25 million to Donald Trump.

Thiel announced he was forking over the hefty sum to the Republican candidate last week, which almost immediately led to people calling for a boycott of PayPal - which he co-founded.

Other powerful figures within Silicon Valley also took a stand against Thiel's decision, with Ellen Pao cutting ties with Y Combinator - an organization where the billionaire is a 'part-time partner'.

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Tech billionaire Peter Thiel is facing backlash over his decision to donate $1.25 million to Donald Trump

Pao, who has been a strong advocate for diversity in the tech industry and was an executive with Reddit, said her group, Project Include, would no longer be associated with the start-up accelerator.

'Diversity and inclusion are hard, especially in tech,' she wrote on Medium.

'But we are completely outraged to read about Thiel donating $1.25 million to Trump, "apparently unfazed by the storm around the candidate in the last week following the broadcasting of lewd conversations."

'While all of us believe in the ideas of free speech and open platforms, we draw a line here. We agree that people shouldn’t be fired for their political views, but this isn’t a disagreement on tax policy, this is advocating hatred and violence.

Thiel (pictured after speaking at the Republican National Convention in July) has come under fire from other Silicon Valley executives, who accuse him of 'advocating hatred and violence' by supporting Trump

'We agree that people shouldn’t be fired for their political views, but this isn’t a disagreement on tax policy, this is advocating hatred and violence,' Ellen Pao wrote after Thiel's donation

'And donating $1.25 million is a lot more than speech. Money is power.

'Giving more power to someone whose ascension and behavior strike fear into so many people is unacceptable.'

Many took to social media to criticize Thiel for the political donation, with others taking it a step further and saying people should stop using PayPal.

'Time to boycott PayPal... Peter Thiel doesn't deserve money coming from groups defamed and abused by Trump,' one person tweeted.

People called for a boycott of PayPal, which Thiel (pictured with Elon Musk in 2000) co-founded in 1998

The hashtag '#BoycottPayPal' was widely shared on social media by people annoyed by Thiel's support of Donald Trump

'What tech do I have to stop using to boycott Peter Thiel?' Nico Crisafulli asked.

'Boycott #paypal and #Thiel. #ImWithHer,' another wrote.

'#BOYCOTTPAYPAL FOR DONATING TO TRUMP. CLOSE YOUR ACCOUNTS NOW,' Amarie Gibson tweeted.

'Well, let me go delete my account. I can't support those that support Trump,' Sharon Chandler said.

Thiel founded the payment company in 1998 with Max Levchin. It was then sold to EBay for $1.5 billion in 2002.

However, other pointed out it would be more impactful if users stopped using Facebook - as Thiel was an early investor in the company and still sits on the Board of Directors

Many suggested a PayPal boycott would not hurt Thiel, as he no longer is involved with the company after selling it in 2002

The sale had other users pointing out that a boycott of PayPal might not be the most impactful course of action.

'Peter Thiel hasn't been involved with PayPal since EBay's takeover, (but) he does however own lots of Facebook stock, you might want to boycott FB,' one person said.

'Wonder if the folks claiming to #boycottpaypal are also deleting their @facebook pages since Peter Thiel is a shareholder and on the FB (Board of Directors),' another said.

'If you're silly enough to #boycottPayPal, you should boycott #Facebook too. #PeterThiel is on the board,' Philister Sidigu added.

Thiel was an early investor in Facebook, and he was reelected to the social network's board in July.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Green Bay on October 17

Peter Thiel speaks on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention on July 21 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio

The billionaire made headlines earlier this year when it was revealed he funded former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan's lawsuit against Gawker Media.

Hogan won the suit, which he filed after the website published a snippet of a sex tape he filmed, and the company was bankrupted as a result.

He also took the stage at the Republican convention, implying that Silicon Valley was out of touch in his speech.

'My industry has made a lot of progress in computers and in software - and of course it's made a lot of money. But Silicon Valley is a small place,' he said.

'The great debate is now who gets to use which bathroom. That is a distraction from our real problems. Who cares?'