PayPal Mafia Public Bets
Nidhal Selmi@nselmi
−0.7%
since Oct 3
The idea
I believe the PayPal mafia's judgment keeps compounding, so this take follows their money into public markets. It holds the companies they still found or run, the later public graduates of their fund bets, and a bitcoin sleeve since that group has been among the loudest institutional holders of it. No single name dominates, a slice of cash sits on the side, and the whole thing is meant to be held for years rather than traded on headlines.
What it owns
- Companies PayPal mafia members founded and still lead, putting their judgment directly in charge of strategy and execution. · Palantir TechnologiesIt was co-founded by Peter Thiel and remains shaped by his board involvement and strategic direction., Tesla, Inc.It is still run day to day by a PayPal mafia member, making it the clearest public test of founder judgment., Affirm HoldingsIt was founded and is still run by Max Levchin, making it a second-act bet on his judgment in fintech., Yelp Inc.It was founded out of PayPal and is still led by its founder, making it the quieter flagship in the take., Opendoor TechnologiesIt was co-founded by Keith Rabois and tests whether buying and selling homes can be done at software speed and profitably through cycles.27%
- Public companies that became major wins from Roelof Botha's Sequoia era and Keith Rabois's investing career. · DoorDash, Inc.It was seeded by Keith Rabois and became one of the clearest public wins from any mafia member's investing career., Block, Inc.It is Roelof Botha's signature Sequoia-era win, the Square bet that made his investing reputation after PayPal., MongoDB, Inc.It is a Botha-era Sequoia bet on developers choosing their own database over cloud giants' alternatives., Nu HoldingsIt is Roelof Botha's Sequoia fintech win, a digital bank that took root in Latin America and keeps adding customers profitably., Unity SoftwareIt received early backing led by Roelof Botha and remains the engine for games and 3D content creation.21%
- Public companies Peter Thiel and Founders Fund backed early, testing whether their early investing conviction compounds into durable winners. · Meta PlatformsIt received Founders Fund's earliest and most famous check, anchoring the take's case that mafia investing judgment compounds in public., Spotify TechnologyIt was a Founders Fund bet that reached public markets and kept winning, holding its lead in audio and turning subscribers into profit., Oscar HealthIt is a Peter Thiel-backed attempt to rebuild health insurance with software and demonstrate a tech edge in margins., Rumble Inc.It is Peter Thiel's bet on an alternative video platform with independent creator support., Asana, Inc.It is run by Dustin Moskovitz and was backed by Founders Fund, testing whether work-management software keeps growing under founder leadership.19%
- Companies shaped by Reid Hoffman's backing and involvement, from his ownership stake inside Microsoft to his Greylock and Reinvent bets. · Microsoft CorporationIt owns LinkedIn, Reid Hoffman's company, and holds it as the public market way to own that asset and his fingerprints on it., Airbnb, Inc.It is Reid Hoffman's standout Greylock bet, backed at seed stage and ridden all the way to a public company., Joby AviationIt came public through Reid Hoffman's Reinvent vehicle, a direct bet on his judgment about electric air taxis., Aurora InnovationIt is the other Reinvent listing, representing Reid Hoffman's bet on self-driving trucks for freight.16%
- Founders Fund has made bitcoin a significant institutional position, so the take holds the asset itself as part of the mafia's conviction. · BitcoinFounders Fund has been one of the loudest institutional holders of the asset, so the mafia's conviction extends beyond stocks.7%
- Cash10%