When Elon Musk was a 19-year-old student in Canada, he read a newspaper and found a bank executive's name. Elon got his phone number and dialed him to ask for a job.
Peter Nicholson of Scotiabank later said Elon was "the only person who ever called me out of the blue and asked him as a summer intern.
Digging into Latin American debt, young Elon found what he believed was a near-certain win in Brady Bonds and told his boss: "We could just instantly make $5 billion. Right now." But Scotiabank said no.
Years later, still carrying that lesson about how banks think, Elon built X dot com — the company that became PayPal. Now, he's putting that view into practice with X Payment.
Peter Nicholson of Scotiabank later said Elon was "the only person who ever called me out of the blue and asked him as a summer intern.
Digging into Latin American debt, young Elon found what he believed was a near-certain win in Brady Bonds and told his boss: "We could just instantly make $5 billion. Right now." But Scotiabank said no.
Years later, still carrying that lesson about how banks think, Elon built X dot com — the company that became PayPal. Now, he's putting that view into practice with X Payment.
Oct 23, 2026 · 1:55 PM UTC
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@Mod3My I’m glad that Elon creates for us and isn’t locked away inside some company
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@msunc1985 I meant "X Money," so everything is fine
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@EvaFox A bit like Steve Jobs cold-calling Bill Hewlett for a summer job at HP.
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@EvaFox the audacity of cold calling a bank ceo at 19 is exactly why hes untouchable now. most people wouldve talked themselves out of it before dialing.
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@EvaFox Such phone nummbers for direct calls are rare nowadays. I did the research in Baltics Scandinavia and i had to interview top persons in banks about financial tools been used by them and to get through to them was almost immpossible and when i reached they few did all possible
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@EvaFox the audacity to cold call a bank exec at 19 and then years later still be mad they didnt take the brady bond tip is honestly the most elon thing ever
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@EvaFox What? There are so many holes in this story. Paypal came first. He bought Twitter waaay later. This is a puff peace.
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@EvaFox Elon was already playing a different game at 19 because he refused to think small. Proof that if you have the vision and the drive, no one can stop you from changing the game.
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@EvaFox Elon knew it instantly.
So does he now! The merge of Tesla and SpaceX is a necessity, not only one of the options they could afford to take leisurely. Time is running out.
So does he now! The merge of Tesla and SpaceX is a necessity, not only one of the options they could afford to take leisurely. Time is running out.
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@EvaFox Most 19-year-olds ask for a summer job; Elon showed up with a $5 billion side quest.
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@EvaFox Oui ben ca fonctionne pas pour tout le monde son x paiement...Ou x money...
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@EvaFox omg,thats a killer instinct seeing through to hunt for oppertunity To WIN,No question to be No:1 to be entrapruner or business person to be make $. we can take Buffet/munger who are investors,Killer whale can play in engineering/business Man/entrapruner/visionary thinker,WOMEN
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@EvaFox Elon Musk has the bestest ultimate brains for business and the sexiest entrepreneur business man in modern history 🤤☺️
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@EvaFox 19 tuổi đã là thiên tài. Thực sự ngưỡng mộ ông.
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