How former PayPal employees created a new reality in technology

When people talk about the “PayPal Mafia” — it’s not just a catchy phrase. Behind it is a group of engineers and entrepreneurs whose decisions have literally reshaped several key industries. It all started with one company but has expanded into hundreds of billions of dollars in valuation.

From Payments to Space: How the Power of the PayPal Mafia Dispersed

The story of this group is unique in that instead of resting on their laurels, its members took on new challenges. Elon Musk didn’t limit himself to the role of investor — he founded SpaceX, which today launches people into space, and Tesla, which revolutionized the automotive industry. Peter Thiel created Palantir, working with massive data sets, and funded early stages of Facebook. Reid Hoffman launched LinkedIn, a professional network that changed the way people find jobs and build business connections.

Financial Innovations: Rethinking Credit Systems

Max Levchin, PayPal’s technical genius, took a different path. His company Affirm offered an alternative to traditional lending — a more transparent, consumer-friendly model. This reflected a broader trend among former payment system executives: not just using financial knowledge, but reimagining it from scratch.

Content and Corporate Technologies: Conquering New Sectors

Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Javed Karim launched YouTube — a platform acquired by Google for $1.65 billion and became the epicenter of the media industry. Meanwhile, David Sacks created Yammer, a corporate social network acquired by Microsoft for $1.2 billion.

Search as a Tool: Yelp and Beyond

Jeremy Stoppelman founded Yelp, a review directory that effectively became an arbiter of reputation for service businesses. His idea was simple but revolutionary — entrust the crowd with opinions and give them a voice.

Venture Capitalists: The Second Wave of Influence

Rulof Bota, PayPal’s CFO, joined Sequoia Capital, investing in YouTube, Instagram, and other giants. Kate Reboa supported DoorDash and OpenDoor. Alex Moazed became a mentor to many young companies, passing on accumulated experience to the next generation.

Why the PayPal Mafia Had Such Influence

The key to their success was not just one breakthrough idea but a systemic approach. The members of the PayPal Mafia understood how payments, risks, scaling, and management work. They went through a real school of competition and market instability in the early 2000s digital payments space. They applied this knowledge across various fields.

SpaceX, Tesla, LinkedIn, YouTube, Palantir, Affirm, Yelp — each of these projects became a leader in its niche. But the main thing that unites all PayPal Mafia members is their readiness to act when others hesitate, and their ambition to change industries rather than just operate within them.

Today, their influence is felt everywhere: from how we order food to how we search for jobs and watch videos. The PayPal Mafia didn’t just create companies — they rewrote the rules of the game in the tech world.