The Founders

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NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2022 BY THE NEW YORKER, this national bestseller and New York Times Editors’ Choice offers a gripping account of PayPal’s origins and the visionaries behind its rise, including Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and Reid Hoffman. These founders, now influential figures in the tech industry, have shaped major companies like Tesla, Facebook, and LinkedIn, driving innovation and entrepreneurship in the twenty-first century. Despite their significant impact, the story of their beginnings at PayPal remains largely untold. Before revolutionizing online payments, they faced fierce competition, internal conflicts, rampant online fraud, and the challenges of the dot-com bust. In this exploration of PayPal’s tumultuous early days, award-winning author Jimmy Soni draws on hundreds of interviews and extensive internal documents to reveal how the foundations of today’s digital economy were laid. He highlights the often-overlooked individuals who played crucial roles in PayPal's success. Described as “an intensely magnetic chronicle” by The New York Times, this narrative illustrates the collaborative spirit of these innovators and how their work has left a lasting impact on modern life. The book captures the essence of iteration and inventiveness that has transformed our world.