John Collison

John Collison
Collison sitting on-stage at Web Summit
Collison in 2014
Born (1990-08-06) 6 August 1990 (age 33)
Dromineer, County Tipperary, Ireland
EducationCastletroy College
Alma materHarvard University
Known forCroma; Stripe
RelativesPatrick Collison (brother)

John Collison (born 6 August 1990) is an Irish entrepreneur and the co-founder and President of Stripe which he co-founded in 2010 with his brother Patrick. Collison was the youngest self made billionaire in 2016. As of 2022, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, his net worth was estimated at US$11.4 billion, ranking him the 187th richest person in the world and one of the wealthiest people from Ireland.[1]

Biography

In 2007, Collison founded "Shuppa"[a] with his older brother Patrick in Limerick, Ireland.[2] The company later merged with Auctomatic, which was funded by Y Combinator,[3] and Collison moved to Silicon Valley.[4]

Auctomatic was a software company that built tools for the eBay platform.[5] The company was also funded by Chris Sacca.[6] Auctomatic was acquired for $5 million in March 2008, when Collison was 17.[7][8][9][10]

In 2009, Collison (having returned to finish secondary school at Castletroy College) received 8 A1 and 2 A2 grades in the Irish Leaving Certificate examination. He continued to study at Harvard University, commencing his studies in September 2009.[11] Collison is a pilot and a pianist.[12][11]

In 2010, Collison co-founded Stripe, which received backing from Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Max Levchin, and Sequoia Capital.[13]

In November 2016, the Collison brothers became the world's youngest self-made billionaires, worth at least $1.1 billion, after an investment in Stripe from CapitalG and General Catalyst valued the company at $9.2 billion.[14] In the same year, 2016, John was ranked by Forbes the 15th in the list America's Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40.[15]

In 2018, Stripe, under the direction of the Collison brothers, contributed $1 million to California YIMBY, a pro-housing development lobbying organization. The Collison brothers are citizens of Ireland.[16]

In 2021 and 2022, Collison bought the Abbeyleix Estate and the derelict Millbrook House, neighbouring properties in County Laois, Ireland. He has stated he will spend several millions of euros over some years restoring Millbrook House to make a family home.[17][18]

Forbes article

A profile of the brothers published in Forbes in 2021 claimed the brothers had "escaped" from Limerick, describing it as a "warzone" because of a gang feud and it was "the 'murder capital' of Europe".[19] It claimed "shootings, pipe bomb attacks, and stabbings" happened there every night.[19] It also claimed that "Some bad neighbourhoods are even walled off by a dirty graffitied 10-foot-high barrier, like the Berlin Wall".[19]

The article received a lot of publicity online, causing a backlash.[19] Patrick tweeted "Not only mistaken about Limerick but the idea of ‘overcoming’ anything is crazy. We are who we are because we grew up where we did".[19] John tweeted it was "daft".[19] Patrick O'Donovan called on the magazine and author to apologise to the people of Limerick "or the insult and hurt caused" by it.[19] He also tweeted "I am calling on them to come to Limerick where I will gladly set the record straight in respect of what our county and city has to offer as opposed to what your work of fiction depicts," and "Please let me know when suits to visit."[19] Niall Collins tweeted that the article was a "disgraceful description of Limerick, home to so many fine and decent people".[19]

The article was removed from the website on 9 April 2021.[19]

Footnotes

  1. ^ "Shuppa" is a phonetic representation of the Irish language word, siopa, meaning shop.

References

  1. ^ "Bloomberg Billionaires Index: John Collison". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 8 June 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Shuppa Bebo profile". Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  3. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". www.ycombinator.com. Archived from the original on 3 February 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  4. ^ Taylor, Charlie (18 December 2020). "John Collison: 'It is entirely plausible that you could set up Stripe in Dublin now'". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 26 July 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  5. ^ "Auctomatic launches better tools for eBay powersellers". 22 October 2007. Archived from the original on 20 May 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  6. ^ "Thank You, Auctomatic". Chris Sacca's 'What is left?'. Archived from the original on 3 February 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  7. ^ McDonald, Henry (28 March 2008). "The Guardian". London, UK. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  8. ^ "Getting right down to business in TY". The Irish Times. 4 April 2008. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  9. ^ "BBC News". 27 March 2008. Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  10. ^ McBride, Louise (28 December 2008). "The Irish Independent". Archived from the original on 15 April 2009. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  11. ^ a b "Harvard next on menu for knowledge-hungry dot.com high flyer". The Irish Times. 15 September 2009. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  12. ^ "40 under 40: John and Patrick Collison". Silicon Valley Business Journal. 28 November 2011. Archived from the original on 5 December 2022. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
  13. ^ Arrington, Michael (28 March 2011). "Stealth Payment Startup Stripe Backed By PayPal Founders". Archived from the original on 12 February 2017. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  14. ^ Mac, Ryan. "Stripe Investment Makes Cofounder The World's Youngest Self-Made Billionaire". Forbes. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  15. ^ Kroll, Luisa (12 December 2016). "America's Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40 2016". Forbes. Archived from the original on 7 December 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  16. ^ "Tech CEO housing crisis". San Francisco Business Times. 3 May 2018. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  17. ^ Hartnett, Alan (2 February 2022). "Billionaire brothers purchase Laois mansion and set to spend €2 million doing it up". Laois Today. Archived from the original on 8 October 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  18. ^ Foxe, Ken (2 October 2022). "Laois ruin on Collison course for a renovation costing €6m". The Times. Archived from the original on 8 October 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j McDermott, Stephen (10 April 2021). "Forbes article about Stripe brothers which called Limerick 'stab city' removed after online backlash". TheJournal.ie. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
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