Elon Musk’s vision of an everything app that includes banking capabilities may not be what Americans are looking for, said Max Levchin, chief executive officer of financial-technology firm Affirm Holdings Inc.
“I do think that the everything app worked really well in a place, in a time, in a different country,” Levchin said Friday on Bloomberg Television. “I don’t think the US consumer is looking for a version of a Tencent product.”
Musk wants Twitter, which he bought in 2022, to be more like Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s WeChat, a messaging service that also allows users to send each other funds, pay for goods and services and borrow money. The app is used daily by more than a billion people in China, but attempts by tech firms including PayPal Holdings Inc., Facebook and Google to offer something similar in the US haven’t been successful.
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While Musk is facing an uphill battle, Levchin — one of PayPal’s founders, alongside the billionaire owner of Twitter — said he isn’t betting against him.
“Don’t ever put anything past Elon,” Levchin said. “He has proven time and time again that he can achieve crazy things.”
--With assistance from Sonali Basak.
Author: Marnie Muñoz and Tanaz Meghjani
