Peter Thiel Reported To Me, Says Elon Musk, Calls PayPal Exit 'Palace Coup' Fueled By Board: 'There Was Nothing Anyone Could…'

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has called his exit from PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) a "palace coup" against the billionaire.

Peter Thiel Reported To Me, Says Elon Musk

Responding to a post on the social media platform X on Friday by user @jasonlk, which had a video claiming that Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) co-founder Peter Thiel fired Musk, also sharing that when SpaceX was going to shut its doors, Musk went to the PayPal founder's fund and was given his share by Thiel "in an hour."

"Peter Thiel fired Elon Musk. Be — he was kind about it. And he left Elon with all his economics (12% of PayPal).

Be kind. He did what he had to do, but he was kind.

And then Elon went back to Peter, and Founders Fund got to invest $20m to buy 10% of SpaceX.

Perhaps the… pic.twitter.com/Hss7ENgTpP

— Jason ✨👾SaaStr.Ai✨ Lemkin (@jasonlk) December 18, 2025

Responding to the post, Musk said that he was the CEO and "Peter [Thiel] reported to me, so could not fire me." Musk also added that his exit from the platform was a "palace coup by most (not all) of the exec team and most of the board," Musk said, adding that the decision came as the company was concerned about Musk's decisions being "too risky."

Musk also shared that he was the "largest shareholder" in PayPal and said that "there was nothing anyone could have done" to take his shares away from him, Musk said.

I was CEO and Peter reported to me, so could not fire me. It was a palace coup by most (not all) of the exec team and most of the board, who were worried that my decisions were too risky.

I was the largest shareholder in the company. There was nothing anyone could have done to…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 19, 2025

Tesla's 1.5 Trillion-Dollar Valuation, Falling Sales

The news comes as Tesla recently cemented its position as the most valuable automaker on the planet, with its market capitalization surpassing the $1.58 trillion mark, which eclipses the combined market capitalization of automakers like Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE:TM), BYD Co. Ltd. (OTC:BYDDY) (OTC:BYDDF), Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F), General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM) and others. 

However, the surge in valuation hasn't translated into improved sales for the automaker, with Tesla sales down 23% in the U.S. during November amid a wider pullback in EV demand. Despite this, the company's market share stood at 56% in the U.S. EV sector.

SpaceX IPO, Trump's Moon And Mars Push

Elsewhere, SpaceX is also eyeing a public listing next year as the commercial space flight giant's IPO, targeting a $1.5 trillion valuation.

The news comes as Musk had earlier hinted at a potential IPO for SpaceX during Tesla's annual shareholder meeting in November. Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives predicted that the "time is right" for the potential SpaceX IPO.

Elsewhere, President Donald Trump unveiled the White House's plans for the future of space exploration in a new Executive Order, which will push for humans to return to the lunar surface by the year 2028, among other decisions.

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