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Jack Selby — Complete Biography, History, and Inventions

The PayPal Mafia

Jack Selby — Complete Biography, History, and Inventions

Jack Selby was one of PayPal’s original employees and later oversaw the company’s corporate and international operations as Senior Vice President. At PayPal, he developed a relationship with Peter Thiel, one of the company’s co-founders. This relationship has served Selby well. In 2002, Selby and Thiel co-founded Clarium Capital Management.

Selby started pursuing his interest in film by producing his first movie, The Last Rites of Ransom Pride, in 2010. Since then, he has produced a number of movies. While he continues to produce movies, Selby is, yet again, working closely with Thiel as Managing Director of Thiel Capital.

Quick Facts

Full Name
John (Jack) Selby
Net Worth
$50 million
Nationality
American
Place of Birth
USA
Fields of Expertise
[“Economics”,”Venture Capital Investing”,”Asset Management”,”Portfolio Management”]
Institutions
PayPal, Thiel Capital, Hamilton University, Clarium Capital Management, SpaceX, FreedomPay, Q Bio, POPSUGAR, InvisionAZ, Arizona Technology Innovation Summit
Contributions
Cofounder of Clarium Capital Management

Who is Jack Selby?

Jack Selby is a member of the “PayPal Mafia” who has since become a film producer and venture capitalist. As one of the original members of the PayPal crew, Selby gained fortune overnight after selling PayPal to eBay in 2002. Selby paired with Peter Thiel to co-found Clarium Capital Management in the same year.

Due to his successful involvement in the early days of PayPal, Jack Selby was free to use his wealth to pursue his interest in producing films while continuing to fund technological startup ventures. Selby’s most well-known film is “Fastball”.

Early Life

Jack Selby has been tight-lipped about his life before and after gaining his wealth from his involvement in PayPal and Confinity. Not even his exact birthday is listed on his social media. What is known is that Jack Selby was born in 1975 somewhere in the US. He attended Hamilton University from 1992-1996 where he graduated with a BA in Economics. After graduating from Hamilton University, Selby worked for a few years in Germany before becoming involved with PayPal, Inc and Confinity, LLC.

The PayPal Mafia
Jack Selby, seen here speaking with attendees at the 2019 Arizona Technology Innovation Summit at The Duce in Phoenix, Arizona, became a film producer and venture capitalist after leaving PayPal.

Career

Before PayPal

Selby graduated with a degree in Economics from Hamilton College. He worked at Gesellschaft fr Trendanalysen, GFTA Analytics GmbH, and Sasco Hill Securities using his economics degree to help capital management and investments.

PayPal

Selby operated as the Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at PayPal, Inc as well as the Vice President of Corporate Development at Confinity, Inc. His position at PayPal is the success he needed to launch his career as a film producer and venture capitalist.

PayPal
Headquartered in San Jose, PayPal is one of the most successful online companies to date.

Co-founder of Clarium Capital Management

After the sale of PayPal to eBay, Selby paired up with Peter Thiel to form Clarium Capital Management where Selby still holds a position as Managing Director to this day.

Film Producer

Selby pursued his interest in film as a producer starting with his first release in 2010, The Last Rites of Ransom Pride. Here’s a quick list of the movies produced by Jack Selby:

  • Bernie
  • Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope
  • The Sacred
  • Dirty Weekend
  • Freeheld
  • Fastball
  • Dinner in America
  • Silk Road

He has also recently completed the production of a film to be released in 2022 titled Windfall.

Venture Capitalist

While Jack Selby appears to focus mostly on his film production, he is still an active venture capitalist. He is involved in “angel investing” as well as active investments as the Managing Director at Thiel Capital.

What Is Jack Selby Known For?

Jack Selby is most commonly known as a member of the Paypal Mafia, film producer, and venture capitalist. He has produced nine films among which is the critically acclaimed “Fastball”.

Jack Selby: Marriage, Divorce, Children, and Personal Life

Net Worth

Jack Selby’s estimated net worth is around $50 million.

Family and Home

Selby has done an excellent job of keeping his life private. Even with his involvement in investing and film production, he has managed to stay away from giving away private information such as his birth date. It is not publicly known if he has a wife or children. His public photos show that in 2019 he has a wedding band signaling that he has a wife, but no public mention of this wife can be found.

”Tips for Jesus”

Sometime in 2013, an anonymous tipper began leaving tips of more than $1,000 and sometimes up to $5,000. The “anonymous” benefactor showed his gratuity offering through photos of his receipts and gifts on an Instagram account titled “tipsforjesus”. Even the receipts were signed “Tips 4 Jesus”.

He continued this trend anonymously for four years before Jack Selby revealed that he was indeed the man behind the “tipsforjesus.”

Jack Selby Film Productions

Selby is steadily growing his list of produced films.

The Last Rites of Ransom Pride was released in 2010. This is the U.K. trailer for the movie.

The Last Rites of Ransom Pride

Released in 2010, The Last Rites of Ransom Pride is a western drama centered around a woman attempting to bring her lover, an outlaw, home for his burial. This was Selby’s first produced film.

Bernie

Based on a true story, Bernie is a film about a mortician who becomes friendly with a wealthy widow. As their relationship deepens, the widow becomes more and more controlling of Bernie’s life. The film details the great lengths he went through to separate himself from her control.

This film gained a little controversy for the actor, Jack Black, as some believed the film was a poor defense for a “guilty” man.

The Sacred

A supernatural tale released in 2012 follows a young girl who visits her deceased aunt’s cabin to gain creative inspiration. The girl, Marie, finds that she is not alone in the cabin as she is confronted by evil spirits.

Dirty Weekend

Co-workers Les and Natalie find themselves in an Alberqueque airport during a flight delay. As they grow tired and agitated by the service workers in the airport, Les decides to go downtown. Natalie follows suit and soon finds that Les is not just trying to get away from irritating workers. The film follows the pair as they slowly grow to learn each other’s “dirty” secrets.

Freeheld

Freeheld tells the story of a New Jersey police officer and her registered domestic partner who battle to ensure they receive the officer’s pension benefits after she is diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Fastball

Fastball is a critically acclaimed documentary narrated by Kevin Costner. The film follows a cast of baseball legends and scientists who dive deep into the details about what happens in the 396 milliseconds it takes a fastball to reach home plate to decipher who threw the fastest pitch ever.

Dinner in America

A punk rocker hiding from the law and an obsessed fan unexpectedly fall in love and travel through America’s decaying Midwestern suburbs.

Silk Road

Silk Road is an imagined retelling of the true story behind a dark web trade site known as the Silk Road. The drama follows a young Ross Ulbricht as he creates and runs the Silk Road as DEA agent Rick Bowden goes undercover to bring him down.

Windfall

A film set to be released in 2022 about a couple who arrive at their vacation home only to discover that it’s been robbed.

Jack Selby Quotes

  • “Arizona has a reputation of being a Barry Goldwater ‘pull yourself up from your bootstraps and make your way’.”
  • “Straws are now outlawed in San Francisco or San Francisco county and who knows where the madness will end.”
  • “Starting up a new technology business, Saudi is clearly a market that you really want to focus on.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Jack Selby?

Jack Selby is a venture capitalist and film producer. He is active in investing in technological advancements and specifically has a focus on Arizona technology development.

What is Jack Selby known for?

Jack Selby is known for being an original member of the PayPal staff that has become affectionately known as the “PayPal Mafia”. More recently he is known for running the “tipsforjesus” account on Instagram that documented extraordinary tips to service staff ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. He is also known for his venture capitalist investments both as an ‘angel’ investor and as the Directing Manager of Thiel Capital.

What is Jack Selby’s net worth?

Jack Selby is estimated to be worth $50 million. With his wealth gained from PayPal stocks and the possibility of wealth gained from venture investment returns, he may be worth even more.

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