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- They have a combined net worth of $310 billion
They have a combined net worth of $310 billion
The story of The PayPal Mafia đź’°
Armaan
September 29, 2023
Hi,
Welcome to the #9 edition of Internet Money Stories đź’°
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The "PayPal Mafia" refers to a group of former PayPal employees and founders who went on to become successful entrepreneurs and investors, contributing significantly to the development of Silicon Valley and the tech industry as a whole.
Here’s the whole story:
Founding and Confinity
In 1998, Max Levchin, Peter Thiel, and Luke Nosek founded PayPal, initially named Confinity, which focused on developing security software for handheld devices.
Recognizing the potential of the internet, the founders shifted their focus to digital payments.
In March 2000, Confinity merged with X.com, creating a unified company.
Due to conflicts, Elon Musk replaced Max Levchin as CEO with Peter Thiel.
The Birth of PayPal
In 2001, the company was renamed PayPal, reflecting its primary focus on facilitating payments.
PayPal grew rapidly, becoming the preferred payment method on eBay.
Going Public and eBay Acquisition
PayPal went public in February 2002, and its stock soared on the first day.
In July 2002, eBay acquired PayPal for approximately $1.5 billion and PayPal expanded globally, reaching users in various countries.
The company introduced new features, including mobile payments, and became a leader in online payments.
The PayPal Mafia
After the eBay acquisition, many key figures left PayPal and went on to become successful entrepreneurs and investors. This group was named the "PayPal Mafia”.
Peter Thiel: Co-founded Clarium Capital and became a prominent venture capitalist.
Reid Hoffman: Co-founded LinkedIn.
Max Levchin: Founded Slide and later Affirm.
Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim: Founded YouTube.
David Sacks: Founded Geni and served as the CEO of Yammer.
Keith Rabois: Involved in various startups and became a venture capitalist.
The story of PayPal is not just a tale of a successful company but also the origin of influential entrepreneurs who went on to shape the technology and business landscape in profound ways.
Thank you for reading.
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See you next Friday,
Armaan 🤝
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