X.com
 X.com logo | |
| Owner | Elon Musk |
|---|---|
| Launched | March 1999 |
| Current status | Merged March 2000 with Confinity to form PayPal |
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|---|---|---|
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X.com was an online bank co-founded by Elon Musk, Harris Fricker, Christopher Payne, and Ed Ho in March 1999. In March 2000, X.com merged with competitor Confinity Inc., a software company based in Silicon Valley. Musk was attracted to Confinity because of its easy payment system. The merged company changed its name to PayPal. eBay bought PayPal for US$1.5 billion in 2002. In July 2015, PayPal was spun off and became an independent company.
Business model[edit]
X.com was an early online bank, and deposits were insured by the FDIC. The company was initially funded by Elon Musk and Greg Kouri, who went on to fund Musk's later ventures: Tesla and his startup, SpaceX.[1]
Customers were not assessed fees or overdraft penalties; in fact, they were rewarded for signing up with a $20 cash card and a $10 card for new member referrals. Two features that were distinct for their time. For instance, customers could send money to another person by entering their email address into X.com.[2] Additionally, customers could open an account strictly with online registration with no need to mail a check.[3]
History[edit]
Throughout the 1990s, Elon Musk envisioned creating a full-service online bank that provided checking and savings accounts, brokerages, and insurance.[4] Musk commented in a 1999 interview with CBS MarketWatch: "I think we're at the third stage now where people are ready to use the Internet as their main financial repository."[3]
In January 1999, Musk formally began planning an online bank in while in the process of selling his company Zip2. A month after Zip2 was purchased by Compaq, Musk invested about $12 million into co-founding X.com in March 1999 with Harris Fricker, Christopher Payne, and Ed Ho.[5][6] Fricker worked with Musk when Musk was an intern at the Bank of Nova Scotia, Payne was a friend of Fricker, and Ho was an engineer at Silicon Graphics and executive at Zip2.[7] The company was initially run from a house before moving to an office in Palo Alto, California.[8]
X.com officially launched on December 7, 1999, with former Intuit CEO Bill Harris serving as the inaugural CEO.[9][3] Within two months, X.com attracted over 200,000 signups.[10] However, a power struggle ensued between Musk and Fricker, which resulted in Fricker attempting a coup on X.com to become the company's CEO.[11]
In March 2000, X.com merged with Confinity, its fiercest competitor, the new company being called X.com.[12] Musk was its biggest shareholder and was appointed as its CEO. Started in 1998, Confinity's product PayPal enabled users with PalmPilots to send money to each other through its infrared ports.[13][14] Subsequently, PayPal developed to allow users to send money using email and the web.[14]
In September 2000, when Musk was in Australia for a honeymoon trip, the X.com board voted for a change of CEO from Musk to Peter Thiel, the co-founder of Confinity. In June 2001, X.com was renamed PayPal.[15]
On October 3, 2002, eBay purchased PayPal for US$1.5 billion.[16][17]
In July 2015, PayPal was spun off to become an independent, publicly-traded company.[18]
On July 5, 2017, Musk repurchased the domain name X.com from PayPal.[19][20] He explained later that he bought the website because "it has great sentimental value".[21]
On July 14, 2017, X.com was launched again, consisting of a blank white page with one "x" in the top left corner,[22] and a custom error page displaying a "y".[23][24] The site displays this way due to having nothing in its source code except the single letter "x". In December 2017, X.com redirected visitors to The Boring Company's website, which Musk also owns. This was done in order to advertise a hat sale.[24]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- Works cited
- Chafkin, Max (2021). The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley's Pursuit of Power. New York: Penguin. ISBN 978-1-9848-7853-3. OCLC 1241240936.
- Soni, Jimmy (2022). The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-5011-9725-3. OCLC 1310245824.
- Vance, Ashlee (2015). Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-230123-9. OCLC 1002383226.
- Notes
- ^ Hull, Dana (August 13, 2012). "Greg Kouri, early investor in PayPal, dies in New York". San Jose Mercury News. Archived from the original on January 12, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
- ^ Vance 2015, p. 84.
- ^ a b c Tolliver, Craig (December 10, 1999). "X.com opens its virtual doors". CBS MarketWatch. Archived from the original on March 2, 2000. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
- ^ Vance 2015, pp. 77–78.
- ^ Vance 2015, pp. 78–81.
- ^ Soni 2022, p. 52.
- ^ Vance 2015, pp. 80–82.
- ^ Vance 2015, pp. 81–82.
- ^ "X.com Names Names Bill Harris President and CEO". X.com. December 7, 1999. Archived from the original on March 3, 2000. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
- ^ Vance 2015, pp. 84–85.
- ^ Vance 2015, pp. 82–83.
- ^ Vance 2015, p. 86.
- ^ Chafkin 2021, pp. 51–52.
- ^ a b Vance 2015, p. 85.
- ^ Vance 2015, pp. 88–89.
- ^ "eBay Completes PayPal Acquisition". eBay. October 3, 2002. Archived from the original on January 21, 2005. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
- ^ Ostrom, Mary Anne (July 9, 2002). "EBay to buy PayPal for $1.5 billion". San Jose Mercury News. Archived from the original on January 8, 2003. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
- ^ Sorkin, Michael J. de la Merced and Andrew Ross (September 30, 2014). "EBay Does About-Face in Spinoff of PayPal Backed by Icahn". New York Times. Archived from the original on September 30, 2014. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
- ^ Strange, Adario. "What mysterious plan does Elon Musk have for X.com?". Mashable. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
- ^ Huang, Echo. "Elon Musk just bought x.com, but it probably didn't come cheap". Quartz. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
- ^ Musk, Elon (10 Jul 2017). "Thanks PayPal for allowing me to buy back http://X.com ! No plans right now, but it has great sentimental value to me". @elonmusk. Retrieved 2018-01-02.
- ^ Maggio, Edoardo. "Elon Musk has launched the 'X.com' website he bought back from PayPal recently". Business Insider. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
- ^ Elon Musk [@elonmusk] (15 July 2017). "y" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 25 September 2017. Retrieved 25 September 2017 – via Twitter.
- ^ a b Iles, James (Dec 11, 2017). "Elon Musk Finally Puts X.com to Some Use". NamePros. Retrieved 2018-01-02.