There was another article about another PayPal mafioso doing the same thing, Max Levchin, in Forbes back in 2012…
https://www.forbes.com/sites/deborahljacobs/2012/03/20/how-f...
It says the following:
“Tax rules bar you from investing your IRA or Roth IRA in a business you control—such a “prohibited transaction” can render the IRA immediately taxable and possibly subject to penalties.”
Thiel and levchin, and probably many many others have certainly skirted the spirit of the Roth IRA.