Information specifically from TSLA conference call on SCTY merger

[TheTalkingMule]

Musk thought that PayPal would replace banks, IIRC, which indicates that he doesn't have clue #1 about banking. It never had a chance of doing that, because it wasn't in the same business.

It is a mistake to assume that Musk understands banking. Maybe he does, but he's given zero evidence of it as far as I can tell. It's a freaking weird business and is not straightforward to get your head around.

Everyone knows eBay ruined PayPal's trans formative potential, if Elon had sold Tesla to Ford in 2012 we would never have gotten past the Model S.

 

[googlepeakoil]

Musk thought that PayPal would replace banks, IIRC, which indicates that he doesn't have clue #1 about banking. It never had a chance of doing that, because it wasn't in the same business.

It is a mistake to assume that Musk understands banking. Maybe he does, but he's given zero evidence of it as far as I can tell. It's a freaking weird business and is not straightforward to get your head around.

originally Paypal was going to be a bank. It eventually changed its name to paypal when it became the most successful / biggest part of the business. It's like Apple changing it's name to Apple and not being Apple computers because its other products became a lot bigger.

 

[neroden]

Suuuuure. Look, I followed the claims being made about PayPal at the time. They showed a lack of understanding of the primary functions of banking (maturity transformation and money creation). They were looking at it from a retail client's point of view, and that's simply not what banking is actually about (unfortunately for most of us retail clients).