5 ms·

He literally got removed from Paypal, "his first company" for trying to push the x.com thing there. That's why he owns the domain. It was stupid then and he hel

He literally got removed from Paypal, "his first company" for trying to push the x.com thing there. That's why he owns the domain. It was stupid then and he held a grudge ever since which is why he's pushing it everywhere else since.

pavon 2y ago
I haven't seen any strong evidence that that was the real reason he was ousted. It seems more to me like something that was too good not to go viral, rather than actual fact.
- maxlamb 2y ago
  https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/07/25/elon-musk-paypal-twitter-x-rebrand/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/07/25/elon-musk-...
  - genewitch 2y ago
    who owns the washington post?
valianteffort 2y ago
No he got removed for trying to switch their servers from linux to windows.
- HillRat 2y ago
  He also got removed for creating systemic, existential risk for the company by handing out $10k line limit credit cards to anyone who wanted one, resulting in a 50% chargeback rate. There are so many reasons for them to have gotten rid of him that the answer is highly underdetermined.
  - Yeul 2y ago
    Interesting this got AliBaba into trouble with the CCP. As 2008 proved handing out credit can lead to disaster.
dboreham 2y ago
He owned x.com before he went to PayPal (they acquired his company which was called: x.com). When ousted, the domain continued to be owned by PayPal until later they ended up selling it and eventually he bought it back.
- Domenic_S 2y ago
  Correct! I had an @x.com email address when I worked at PayPal a long time ago.
  - dboreham 2y ago
    Fun fact: I worked with one of the people who owned x.com prior to Elon (and sold it to him, reputedly for more $$ than he wanted to pay).
PaulDavisThe1st 2y ago
There was quite an extended period where all the developer docs for PayPal were on x.com/something ... I found it all quite confusing.
AlchemistCamp 2y ago
That’s not true. It was mostly over their servers. Elon Musk’s startup was running Windows while Peter Thiel and Max Levchin’s was running Linux. Musk wanted to migrate everything to Windows due to the more mature (at the time) APIs and Levchin was adamant on staying with Linux. He was also busy trying to fight fraud, which was becoming an existential threat to the company, and had no time for migrating to a different platform. Ultimately, Levchin gathered several other key people in the company, and went to the investors threatening to quit (and destroy the company) unless they brought back Thiel as CEO. The board sided with Levchin, Theil returned and Musk was out of day-to-day operations. If you’re interested in the PayPal story, I highly recommend Jimmy Soni’s book, The Founders. https://www.amazon.com/Founders-Paypal-Entrepreneurs-Shaped-Silicon/dp/1501197266 https://www.amazon.com/Founders-Paypal-Entrepreneurs-Shaped-...
- rsynnott 2y ago
  “More mature (at the time) APIs” I mean, while nothing about the web was particularly mature at the time, the idea that Windows was more mature than Linux for it is… peculiar, from the point of view of someone who was messing around with web programming at the time. Note how much difficulty Microsoft had migrating Hotmail to Windows.
  - AlchemistCamp 2y ago
    Were you working in anything banking-related? AFIK, Microsoft was dominant in that sector.

pavon 2y ago

I haven't seen any strong evidence that that was the real reason he was ousted. It seems more to me like something that was too good not to go viral, rather than actual fact.

maxlamb 2y ago
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/07/25/elon-musk-paypal-twitter-x-rebrand/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/07/25/elon-musk-...
- genewitch 2y ago
  who owns the washington post?

valianteffort 2y ago

No he got removed for trying to switch their servers from linux to windows.

HillRat 2y ago
He also got removed for creating systemic, existential risk for the company by handing out $10k line limit credit cards to anyone who wanted one, resulting in a 50% chargeback rate. There are so many reasons for them to have gotten rid of him that the answer is highly underdetermined.
- Yeul 2y ago
  Interesting this got AliBaba into trouble with the CCP. As 2008 proved handing out credit can lead to disaster.

dboreham 2y ago

He owned x.com before he went to PayPal (they acquired his company which was called: x.com). When ousted, the domain continued to be owned by PayPal until later they ended up selling it and eventually he bought it back.

Domenic_S 2y ago
Correct! I had an @x.com email address when I worked at PayPal a long time ago.
- dboreham 2y ago
  Fun fact: I worked with one of the people who owned x.com prior to Elon (and sold it to him, reputedly for more $$ than he wanted to pay).

PaulDavisThe1st 2y ago

There was quite an extended period where all the developer docs for PayPal were on x.com/something ... I found it all quite confusing.

AlchemistCamp 2y ago

That’s not true. It was mostly over their servers. Elon Musk’s startup was running Windows while Peter Thiel and Max Levchin’s was running Linux. Musk wanted to migrate everything to Windows due to the more mature (at the time) APIs and Levchin was adamant on staying with Linux. He was also busy trying to fight fraud, which was becoming an existential threat to the company, and had no time for migrating to a different platform. Ultimately, Levchin gathered several other key people in the company, and went to the investors threatening to quit (and destroy the company) unless they brought back Thiel as CEO. The board sided with Levchin, Theil returned and Musk was out of day-to-day operations. If you’re interested in the PayPal story, I highly recommend Jimmy Soni’s book, The Founders. https://www.amazon.com/Founders-Paypal-Entrepreneurs-Shaped-Silicon/dp/1501197266 https://www.amazon.com/Founders-Paypal-Entrepreneurs-Shaped-...

rsynnott 2y ago
“More mature (at the time) APIs” I mean, while nothing about the web was particularly mature at the time, the idea that Windows was more mature than Linux for it is… peculiar, from the point of view of someone who was messing around with web programming at the time. Note how much difficulty Microsoft had migrating Hotmail to Windows.
- AlchemistCamp 2y ago
  Were you working in anything banking-related? AFIK, Microsoft was dominant in that sector.