This Jewish American innovator helped change how we send money online and how we buy things today. Can you name him?
Answer:
Max Levchin
Questions:
- What qualities do you think are important in a financial entrepreneur?
- How have companies like PayPal changed the way people handle money, especially for younger generations?
- What are the benefits and drawbacks of services like Affirm that let you “buy now, pay later”
Here are the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.
Behind the numbers (Wikipedia):
“Born in Kyiv, then part of the Ukrainian SSR, to a Ukrainian-Jewish family, Levchin moved to the United States and settled in Chicago in 1991. In 1998, Levchin and Peter Thiel founded Fieldlink, a security company that allowed users to store encrypted data on their PalmPilots and other PDA devices for handheld devices to serve as “digital wallets”. After changing the company name to Confinity, they developed a popular payment product, calling it PayPal and focusing on digital funds transfer by PDA. The company merged with X.com in 2000, and in 2001, the company adopted the name PayPal after its main product.”
About
the Author
Dave Martin
Dave joins NGPF with 15 years of teaching experience in math and computer science. After joining the New York City Teaching Fellows program and earning a Master’s degree in Education from Pace University, his teaching career has taken him to New York, New Jersey and a summer in the north of Ghana. Dave firmly believes that financial literacy is vital to creating well-rounded students that are prepared for a complex and highly competitive world. During what free time two young daughters will allow, Dave enjoys video games, Dungeons & Dragons, cooking, gardening, and taking naps.
