The first version of the PayPal electronic payments system was launched in 1999. Having had no success with that business model, however, it switched its focus to a digital wallet.
What would later become PayPal was originally established by Max Levchin, Peter Thiel, and Luke Nosek in December 1998 as Confinity, a company that developed security software for hand-held devices. History įor a chronological guide, see Timeline of PayPal. The company was ranked 143rd on the 2022 Fortune 500 of the largest United States corporations by revenue. In 2015 eBay spun off PayPal to its shareholders, and PayPal became an independent company again. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of eBay later that year, valued at $1.5 billion. The company operates as a payment processor for online vendors, auction sites and many other commercial users, for which it charges a fee.Įstablished in 1998 as Confinity, PayPal went public through an IPO in 2002. is an American multinational financial technology company operating an online payments system in the majority of countries that support online money transfers, and serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper methods such as checks and money orders. EBay, PayPal, Kijiji and StubHub, 500 King Street West, Toronto, April 2014
