Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
How the PayPal mafia took over Silicon Valley. 🔒Remove your personal information from the web at JoinDeleteMe.com/NEWSTHINK and use code NEWSTHINK for 20% off 🙌
DeleteMe international Plans: international.joindeleteme.com
I highly recommend Jimmy Soni’s book: The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley: https://a.co/d/0zF1nzr
Chapters:
0:00 The PayPal Connection
0:17 Max Levchin Escapes the USSR
1:09 Meeting Peter Thiel
3:22 Elon Musk’s Early Hustle
4:37 The Birth of X.com
5:58 PayPal vs. X.com: The War Begins
7:11 The Reluctant Merger
8:20 Musk is Fired
9:20 Fight Against Fraud
9:54 Going Public
11:07 Today’s Sponsor: DeleteMe
Newsthink is produced and presented by Cindy Pom
https://x.com/cindypom
Grab your Newsthink merch here: newsthink.creator-spring.com
Support Cindy on Patreon! patreon.com/Newsthink
Sources:
Image of Max Levchin: By TechCrunch, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia CommonsImage of Peter Thiel: TechCrunch50-2008, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Trading room: By Raiffeisenverband Salzburg reg. Gen. m. b. H., Schwarzstr. 13-15, 5024 Salzburg - Raiffeisenverband Salzburg reg. Gen. m. b. H., Schwarzstr. 13-15, 5024 Salzburg (transferred from de:Image:RVS Handelsraum.jpg), CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Cubberley Auditorium at Stanford: BrokenSphere, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
CryptoCard security token: Brian Ronald, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Palm Pilot 5000: BarsMonster on YouTube, Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed): youtube.com/watch?v=iL0YLuClysY
Elon Musk 2008 images: OnInnovation CC by ND-2.0 via Flickr flickr.com/photos/oninnovation/4334978294/in/album-72157623364617582
David Sacks image: By Robert Scoble from Half Moon Bay, California, USA - flickr.com/photos/scobleizer/5435256332/, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Wall Street: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Image of Peter Thiel: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
New York Stock Exchange: By TomasEE, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
eBay building in San Jose: Coolcaesar, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
PayPal building in San Jose: By Sagar Savla - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
How the PayPal mafia took over Silicon Valley. 🔒Remove your personal information from the web at JoinDeleteMe.com/NEWSTHINK and use code NEWSTHINK for 20% off 🙌
DeleteMe international Plans: international.joindeleteme.com
I highly recommend Jimmy Soni’s book: The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley: https://a.co/d/0zF1nzr
Chapters:
0:00 The PayPal Connection
0:17 Max Levchin Escapes the USSR
1:09 Meeting Peter Thiel
3:22 Elon Musk’s Early Hustle
4:37 The Birth of X.com
5:58 PayPal vs. X.com: The War Begins
7:11 The Reluctant Merger
8:20 Musk is Fired
9:20 Fight Against Fraud
9:54 Going Public
11:07 Today’s Sponsor: DeleteMe
Newsthink is produced and presented by Cindy Pom
https://x.com/cindypom
Grab your Newsthink merch here: newsthink.creator-spring.com
Support Cindy on Patreon! patreon.com/Newsthink
Sources:
Image of Max Levchin: By TechCrunch, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia CommonsImage of Peter Thiel: TechCrunch50-2008, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Trading room: By Raiffeisenverband Salzburg reg. Gen. m. b. H., Schwarzstr. 13-15, 5024 Salzburg - Raiffeisenverband Salzburg reg. Gen. m. b. H., Schwarzstr. 13-15, 5024 Salzburg (transferred from de:Image:RVS Handelsraum.jpg), CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Cubberley Auditorium at Stanford: BrokenSphere, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
CryptoCard security token: Brian Ronald, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Palm Pilot 5000: BarsMonster on YouTube, Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed): youtube.com/watch?v=iL0YLuClysY
Elon Musk 2008 images: OnInnovation CC by ND-2.0 via Flickr flickr.com/photos/oninnovation/4334978294/in/album-72157623364617582
David Sacks image: By Robert Scoble from Half Moon Bay, California, USA - flickr.com/photos/scobleizer/5435256332/, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Wall Street: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Image of Peter Thiel: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
New York Stock Exchange: By TomasEE, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
eBay building in San Jose: Coolcaesar, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
PayPal building in San Jose: By Sagar Savla - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
