Stripe Stays Private For Public Ends
The payments startup is now one of the world’s most valuable software unicorns. Its founders are keeping it private for long-term business strategy and to use it as a base for philanthropic goals.
The payment processing company Stripe has grown to become one of the most highly-valued private startup companies in the world and a leading player in the payments sector. Stripe was founded in 2010 by Irish brothers Patrick and John Collison, who are currently 35 and 33 years old, respectively. Stripe is dual-headquartered in South San Francisco and Dublin, Ireland and has about 7000 employees.1 In 2022, the company intermediated over $800 billion worth of payments, and in 2024 announced it had surpassed $1 trillion for 2023.2 In 2021, the company was privately valued at $95 billion in a funding round, making it the most valuable startup in the U.S. at the time and the second-most valuable in the world, after only TikTok-creator ByteDance.3 Today, Stripe remains one of the most valuable private companies in the U.S. with a valuation of $65 billion.4