When Elon Musk was fired from the company he founded, I “had thoughts of assassination running through” my head – Times of India

Elon Musk, will soon be co-leading the newly-formed Department of Government Efficiency alongside Vivek Ramaswamy. The department is aimed at improving efficiency and cutting wasteful spending. But Musk’s rise to political prominence was shadowed by a past experience that could have easily derailed his entire career.
According to Walter Isaacson’s 2023 biography on Musk, in 2000, while at the helm of X.com – an online bank and financial services platform founded in 1999 and was merged with Confinity in 2000 to become PayPal – the billionaire faced a sudden ouster orchestrated by his colleagues, including Peter Thiel.
This betrayal left Musk reeling, with thoughts of assassination swirling in his mind.
“I had thoughts of assassination running through my head”, said Musk, who saw it as a blessing in disguise.
“It was good I got cooped. Otherwise, I’d still be slaving away at PayPal,” Musk noted, adding that if he had stayed, PayPal would be worth “a trillion dollars.”

How Musk’s ‘resilience’ helped him

Musk managed to turn this into a catalyst for future success by recognising the opportunity, allowing him to pursue his grand vision of space exploration with SpaceX.
The early days of SpaceX were challenging – three failed rocket launches that nearly bankrupted the company. Ironically, it was Peter Thiel, one of the architects of his earlier downfall, who provided a crucial lifeline through a $20 million investment from the Founders Fund.
Musk also retained equity in PayPal, earning him $250 million when eBay acquired the company for $1.5 billion in 2002.

“…interesting exercise in karma”

This act of support, viewed by Musk as “an interesting exercise in karma,” enabled SpaceX to achieve its fourth launch and secure a game-changing contract with NASA.
SpaceX is currently at the forefront of space exploration and has been chosen to rescue astronauts stranded in orbit.
“If I had let my initial reactions take over, space would be dead,” Musk said, drawing parallels between his ouster from PayPal and the assassination of Julius Caesar.