What Is Patrick Collison's Net Worth?
Patrick Collison is an Irish American businessman and entrepreneur who has a net worth of $5 billion. He is well-known for co-founding and serving as the CEO of Stripe, alongside his brother John Collison. Together, they established Shuppa in Limerick, Ireland, which later merged with Auctomatic. The company was sold to Live Current Media in March 2008 for $5 million when Patrick was 19 and John was 17.
In 2010, Patrick and John founded Stripe, an online payment company that has achieved global utilization. By October 2015, Stripe was valued at $5 billion. Starting from childhood, the Collison brothers learned coding and excelled in various competitions. In 2005, 16-year-old Patrick won the Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition. Recently, in 2020, Patrick co-founded Fast Grants with Tyler Cowen, providing funds for COVID-19 related scientific projects.
Early Life
Patrick Collison was born on September 9, 1988, in Dromineer, County Tipperary, Ireland. His parents are electronic engineer Denis Collison and microbiologist Lily Collison. Patrick has two younger brothers, John and Tommy. By the age of 8, he was already taking a computer course at the University of Limerick, and by 10, he was learning computer programming. Patrick's education included attending Gaelscoil Aonach Urmhumhan and Castletroy College, followed by enrollment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, from which he dropped out in 2009.
Career
Patrick's early achievements include winning the Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in 2005 with his project on creating the programming language Croma. He received a €3,000 cheque and a Waterford Crystal trophy, presented by Irish President Mary McAleese. In 2007, Patrick and John founded Shuppa, but it did not receive funding from Enterprise Ireland. Shuppa then caught the interest of Y Combinator in Silicon Valley, leading the brothers to move to California and merge their company to form Auctomatic. By March 2008, Auctomatic was sold to Live Current Media, making Patrick a millionaire before age 20. He later became the director of engineering at Live Current Media in Vancouver.
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In 2010, Patrick and John co-founded Stripe, which saw an initial $2 million investment from PayPal co-founders, including Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and key venture capital firms. By 2016, Forbes reported that the Collison brothers were worth at least $1.1 billion each after Stripe's valuation nearly doubled. With another $150 million investment from CapitalG and General Catalyst Partners in 2017, the brothers' worth increased to at least $3.2 billion each. Stripe's contributions include a $1 million donation in 2018 to California YIMBY. By 2019, Stripe had a $35 billion valuation, making the Collisons the youngest self-made billionaires.
Patrick has also contributed to literature, co-authoring articles for 'The Atlantic' with Michael Nielsen and Tyler Cowen. In 2018, they highlighted issues in scientific funding and progress. Patrick has shown his advocacy through social media, criticizing human rights violations notably in a 2020 tweet regarding the Chinese government's treatment of Uighurs.
Personal Life
Patrick married Silvana Konermann, a Swiss-American biochemist, in April 2022. The couple first met during the EU Young Scientist competition in 2004. Together, they co-founded the Arc Institute, a nonprofit organization aimed at fostering important scientific progress through innovative organizational models. Patrick is an avid reader with interests spanning art, history, philosophy, and technology.
Awards
Patrick Collison received the Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition award in 2005 and was named BT Young Scientist of the Year.
Real Estate
In 2022, Patrick and John purchased the Victorian Millbrook House in Co Laois, Ireland, for €400,000. The mansion, built in 1885, required extensive restoration. This acquisition adds to the property portfolio which includes a nearby home bought by John for €11.5 million in 2021.
