eBay Inc.

PayPal

eBay acquired PayPal on October 3, 2002, for $1.4–$1.5 billion. It shut down its competing Billpoint service three months later. PayPal became the dominant, user-chosen payment method on eBay — used in over 70% of auctions and ~25% of closed listings — and by Q3 2012 accounted for 40% of eBay’s revenue ($1.37B). The deal was not about innovation. It was about controlling the checkout.