![]() Their subsequent companies dominate many facets of the technology landscape today: Elon Musk But they remained connected through personal relationships and investments. Others: Russel Simmons, Jeremy Stoppelman, Steve Chen, Roelof Botha, and more!īut what did this unlikely gang of innovators go on to do? Read on to find out… World-Changing Companies Born from the PayPal MafiaĪfter PayPal‘s sale, many top employees left between 2000-2006 to pursue new ventures.Reid Hoffman: Early executive vice president.Elon Musk: Largest shareholder after X.com merger.Peter Thiel: Co-founder and first CEO. ![]() Most members were young friends recruited from Stanford or University of Illinois.Īs Levchin describes, "We just hired our friends and they were all super smart. OK, so who made up this so-called mafia? The term originated from PayPal‘s close-knit, loyal culture. PayPal eventually won out and eBay acquired it in 2002 for a cool $1.5 billion. That‘s impressive growth!īut it faced stiff competition from eBay‘s Billpoint service. According to Levchin, this free service helped PayPal acquire over 25 million users by 2001. PayPal gained traction quickly by offering free peer-to-peer payments funded by investors. The two rivals merged in 2000, with Musk becoming the biggest shareholder. In 1999, a company called X.com founded by Elon Musk emerged offering similar email-based payments. It allowed users to transfer funds via Palm Pilots, the popular personal digital assistants of the time. PayPal was founded in 1998 as Confinity by Peter Thiel and Max Levchin. Let‘s get started! PayPal‘s Humble Beginningsįirst, some quick background. In this post, I‘ll provide an in-depth look at the origins and key figures of the PayPal Mafia, their impact on the tech industry, and what we can learn from their unrelenting innovative spirit. Hi there! Have you heard of the "PayPal Mafia"? It‘s an informal name given to a group of former PayPal employees and founders who went on to start or invest in many of the most influential tech companies in Silicon Valley and beyond.
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