*From Zip2 to Mars: The Elon Musk Timeline*
321 Words
*Chapter 2: 1999–2002 — h***:://X.com, PayPal, and the Coup*
*March 1999. Palo Alto.*
Elon is 27. Zip2 just sold. He’s got $22M and a crashed McLaren. Most people buy an island. He incorporates h***:://X.com.
*The pitch:* Online banking. No branches. No paperwork. Email money to anyone.
*1999 reaction:* “That’s illegal. And stupid.”
*Capable:* He codes the first version himself. One of the first FDIC-insured online banks.
*Diligent:* He works 100-hour weeks again. The office has showers this time. Progress.
*Frank:* He names it h***:://X.com because “it’s cool.” Regulators, customers, and his board all hate it.
*The problem:* Peter Thiel’s company Confinity has a product called PayPal. It does the same thing. They’re bleeding cash trying to kill each other.
*March 2000 — Merge or die.*
http://X.com and Confinity merge. Company name: h***:://X.com. Main product: PayPal. CEO: Elon.
*The conflict:* Elon wants to move PayPal to Windows servers and keep the h***:://X.com brand. Thiel’s team wants Unix and the PayPal name. Engineers pick sides. The code base is a warzone.
*September 2000 — The Coup.*
Elon’s on his honeymoon in Australia with Justine. While he’s on a plane, the board votes him out as CEO. Peter Thiel takes over. Elon stays as largest shareholder. He finds out when he lands.
Most people quit. *Diligent* doesn’t. He stays, keeps building, keeps his equity.
*October 2001:* The company officially renames to PayPal. h***:://X.com dies. Elon’s “cool” name loses.
*July 2002 — Poor to Rich, Part 2.*
eBay buys PayPal for $1.5 billion. Elon’s cut: $180 million after tax. He’s 31.
*Status update:* Multi-millionaire. Not billionaire yet.
*Personal Character check:* Capable? Built it. Diligent? Stayed after getting fired. Frank? Still mad he lost the X name. Powerful? Not yet. He can’t even keep his job.
He has $180M. He could retire. Instead he puts $100M into SpaceX, $70M into Tesla, $10M into SolarCity.
*End of Chapter 2.*
- Writer
