A timeline of influential early online payments company [[PayPal]], which minted a number of wealthy oligarch players who would come to dominate the political landscape of the 21st century including [[Peter Thiel]], [[Elon Musk]], [[David Sacks]], and [[Keith Rabois]]. - December 1998 -- The company is originally founded as Confinity, a handheld device security software vendor - 1999 -- Confinity pivots to develop a digital wallet service - March 2000 -- Confinity merges with [[Elon Musk]]'s X.com financial services company - October 2000 -- Musk decides to scrap non-PayPal parts of the business, and is replaced by Thiel as CEO of X.com - 2002 -- Meg Whitman, then eBay's CEO, moves to acquire [[PayPal]] for $1.5 billion