This $1.5 Billion Business Deal Between 3 Californian Companies Changed The Internet Forever (Yes, Elon Musk was There)

In 2002, eBay acquired Paypal at a $1.5 billion valuation.

Ebay HQ, in San Jose California.Photo byBildquelle/Ullstein Bild/Getty Images

Although at the time, it was seen as nothing more than a routine, large-scale business acquisition, it would go on to change the landscape of the internet, forever. From Twitter being bought by an eccentric billionaire to the birth of one of the internet's largest platforms, it's amazing how one event can have such a monumental impact on history.

Within any major business acquisition, there's always an awkward period of transition where employees decide whether they want to stick around, find new employment, or start something of their own. During a mass exodus at PayPal (after being purchased by eBay), 3 employees (Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim) decided to start something of their own.

They cashed in their PayPal stocks to begin building an innovative video-sharing platform, called YouTube. By 2005, after an initial investment of $3.5 million, from Sequoia Capital, the startup was up on its feet.

And, 1 year later, Google acquired it for $1.65 billion.

Today, YouTube is the 2nd most-visited website in the world — behind only Google Search, itself.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk was planning his voyage into space exploration with a new business idea of his own.

Being one of the co-founders of PayPal, Elon was the largest shareholder, receiving $175.8 million, when the company went public. And, much like Chad, Steve, and Jawed, after eBay's acquisition of PayPal in 2002, Elon embarked on a business venture of his own -- with the lofty goal of space exploration in mind. Although it was quite a giant leap from electronic wallets, it was a tiny step for the future business mogul. And, as we've learned over the years, Elon is not averse to taking risks.

From there, Elon continued to build his business portfolio, starting various companies including Tesla, SolarCity, OpenAI, Neuralink, The Boring Company, and most recently spending $44 billion to buy Twitter, effectively reinstating free speech in America.

It's amazing how eBay's decision to acquire PayPal, despite the product being called one of the "worst business ideas" in history, could have resulted in such a monumental change in the world's trajectory.

Hey, I'm Hudson! I write about social media, marketing, and modern entrepreneurship. Hit follow for more stories like this one.