John Collison

John Collison
Collison in 2023
BornAugust 1990 (age 35)
Limerick, Ireland
EducationCastletroy College
Alma materHarvard University (dropped out)
Known forCroma; Stripe
RelativesPatrick Collison (brother)

John Collison (born August 1990) is an Irish-American entrepreneur. He is the president of Stripe, which he co-founded in 2010 with his brother Patrick. Collison was the youngest self-made billionaire in 2016. As of 2025, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, his net worth is estimated at US$9.3 billion.[1]

Early life and education

Collison was born in Limerick, Ireland, in August 1990 to microbiologist Lily and electronic engineer Denis Collison.[2][3][4] He and his brothers were brought up in the small village of Dromineer in County Tipperary.[4][5] In 2007, he founded "Shuppa"[a] with his elder brother Patrick in Limerick.[6] The company later merged with Auctomatic, a software company that built tools for the eBay platform and funded by Y Combinator.[7][8] Collison later moved to Silicon Valley.[9] Auctomatic was acquired for $5 million in March 2008, when Collison was 17.[10][11][12][13]

In 2009, Collison, having returned to finish secondary school at Castletroy College, received eight A1 and two A2 grades in the Irish Leaving Certificate examination. He enrolled at Harvard University in September 2009, but dropped out the following year.[14][15] Collison is a pilot and a pianist.[16][14]

Career

In 2010, Collison co-founded Stripe, which received backing from Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Max Levchin, and Sequoia Capital.[17]

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.[18] In the same year, 2016, Collison was ranked by Forbes the 15th in the list America's Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40.[19]

In 2018, Stripe, under the direction of the Collison brothers, contributed $1 million to California YIMBY, a pro-housing development lobbying organisation. The Collison brothers are citizens of Ireland.[20]

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.[21][22]

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".[23] It claimed "shootings, pipe bomb attacks, and stabbings" happened there every night.[23] It also claimed that "Some bad neighbourhoods are even walled off by a dirty graffitied 10-foot-high barrier, like the Berlin Wall".[23]

The article received a lot of publicity online, causing a backlash.[23] 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".[23] Collison tweeted it was "daft".[23] Patrick O'Donovan called on the magazine and author to apologise to the people of Limerick "or the insult and hurt caused" by it.[23] 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."[23] Niall Collins tweeted that the article was a "disgraceful description of Limerick, home to so many fine and decent people".[23] The article was removed from the website on 9 April 2021.[23]

Podcast

In 2025 Collison debuted a new podcast called "A Cheeky Pint" featuring interviews with leaders in the tech industry.[24]

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. ^ Cogley, Michael; Field, Matthew (23 February 2021). "How two brothers from rural Ireland built a $115bn payments giant". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  3. ^ Shah, Oliver (24 June 2023). "Stripe's John Collison: I've just lost $4bn — and I'm more ambitious than ever". The Sunday Times.
  4. ^ a b Vance, Ashlee (1 August 2017). "How Two Brothers Turned Seven Lines of Code Into a $9.2 Billion Startup". Bloomberg Businessweek.
  5. ^ Armstrong, Stephen. "The untold story of Stripe, the secretive $20bn startup driving Apple, Amazon and Facebook".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ "Shuppa Bebo profile". Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  7. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". www.ycombinator.com. Archived from the original on 3 February 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  8. ^ "Auctomatic launches better tools for eBay powersellers". 22 October 2007. Archived from the original on 20 May 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ McDonald, Henry (28 March 2008). "The Guardian". London, UK. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  11. ^ "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.
  12. ^ "BBC News". 27 March 2008. Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  13. ^ McBride, Louise (28 December 2008). "The Irish Independent". Archived from the original on 15 April 2009. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ "Young Entrepreneurs Put College on Hold | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  16. ^ "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.
  17. ^ 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.
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ 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.
  20. ^ "Tech CEO housing crisis". San Francisco Business Times. 3 May 2018. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  21. ^ 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.
  22. ^ 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.
  23. ^ 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.
  24. ^ Rogan, Aaron (22 June 2025). "Post Script: Economist columnist mangles teanga; tech founder takes swipe at Stripe over pint". Business Post.
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