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Black hole (BH) X-ray binaries (XRBs) are X-ray luminous binary systemscomprising a BH accreting matter from a companion star. Understanding theirorigins sheds light on the still not well understood physics of BH formation.M33 X-7 hosts one of the most massive stellar-mass BH among all XRBs known todate, a 15.65 Msun BH orbiting a 70 Msun companion star in a 3.45 day orbit.The high masses of the two components and the tight orbit relative to the largeH-rich stellar component challenge our understanding of the typically invokedBH-XRBs formation channels. The measured underluminosity of the opticalcomponent further complicates the picture. A solution to the evolutionaryhistory of this system that can account for all its observed properties has yetto be presented, and here we propose the first scenario that is consistent withthe complete set of current observational constraints. In our model, M33 X-7started its life hosting a 85-99 Msun primary and a 28-32 Msun companion in aKeplerian orbit of 2.8-3.1 days. In order to form a BH of 15.65 Msun, theinitially most massive component transferred part of its envelope to thecompanion star and lost the rest in a strong stellar wind. During thisdynamically stable mass transfer phase the companion accreted matter, to becomethe presently underluminous 70 Msun star.

The intriguing evolutionary history of the massive black hole X-ray binary M33 X-7