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Technology & Ethics
PayPal Mafia's Influence in Trump's Second Administration
- Published
- 2026-04-10
Explainer on the "PayPal Mafia" — the former PayPal founders and managers, including Peter Thiel, Elon Musk and David Sacks, who went on to start or back companies such as Tesla, LinkedIn, YouTube, SpaceX and Palantir. The article traces the term to Fortune's 2007 cover story and PayPal's $1.5 billion sale to eBay in 2002, then describes the group's influence in the Trump administration — including the Department of Government Efficiency and the cryptocurrency and AI czar role — and its push for lighter tech regulation and pro-crypto policy.
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investopedia.comAdded Oct 5, 20260 opens