Patrick Collison | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Collison in 2015 | |
| Born | (1988-09-09)9 September 1988 (age 37) Dromineer,County Tipperary, Ireland |
| Education | Gaelscoil Aonach Urmhumhan Castletroy College Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Known for | Stripe,Fast Grants,Arc Institute |
| Spouse | |
| Relatives | John Collison (brother) |
| Awards | Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition (2004) BT Young Scientist of the Year (2005) |
| Website | patrickcollison |
Patrick Collison (born 9 September 1988) is an Irish entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and current CEO ofStripe, which he started with his younger brother,John, in 2010. He won the 41stYoung Scientist and Technology Exhibition in 2005 at the age of sixteen. In 2020, he foundedFast Grants to fundCOVID-19-related science with economistTyler Cowen. In 2021, he co-foundedArc Institute, a nonprofit research organization, with bioscientistsSilvana Konermann andPatrick Hsu.
Patrick Collison was born to microbiologist Lily and electronic engineer Denis Collison on 9 September 1988,[1][2] and he and his brothers were brought up in the small village ofDromineer inCounty Tipperary.[3] The eldest of three boys, he took his first computer course when he was eight years old, at theUniversity of Limerick, and began learning computer programming at the age of ten.[4]
Collison was educated in Gaelscoil Aonach Urmhumhan,Nenagh, before attendingCastletroy College inCastletroy, County Limerick.[5]
Collison entered the 40thYoung Scientist and Technology Exhibition with his project onartificial intelligence (nicknamed 'Isaac' afterIsaac Newton, whom Patrick admired), finishing as individual runner-up.[5] He re-entered the following year, and won first place at the age of sixteen on 14 January 2005.[6][7] His project involved the creation of Croma, aLISP-type programming language.[7][8]
His prize of a €7,500 cheque and a trophy ofWaterford Crystal was presented to him byPresidentMary McAleese.[4] His younger brother Tommy participated with his project onblogging in the Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in 2010.[9]
He attendedMassachusetts Institute of Technology, but eventually dropped out in 2009 after starting businesses.[4][1] In 2007, he set up software company 'Shuppa' (a play on the Irish wordsiopa, meaning 'shop') inLimerick with his brotherJohn Collison.[10]Enterprise Ireland did not allocate funding to the company, prompting a move to California afterSilicon Valley'sY Combinator showed interest, where they merged with twoOxford graduates, Harjeet and Kulveer Taggar, and the company became Auctomatic.[10]
OnGood Friday of March 2008, Collison, aged nineteen, and his brother, aged seventeen, sold Auctomatic to Canadian company Live Current Media, becoming millionaires.[10][11] In May 2008, he became director of engineering at the company's newVancouver base.[4][10] Collison attributes the success of his company to his win in the Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.[4]
In 2010, Collison co-foundedStripe, which in 2011 received investment of $2 million including from PayPal co-foundersElon Musk andPeter Thiel, and venture capital firmsSequoia Capital,Andreessen Horowitz, andSV Angel.[12][1]
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 andGeneral Catalyst Partners valued the company at $9.2 billion.[13] By 2017, the brothers were notionally worth at least $3.2 billion each.[14]
In 2018, Stripe, under the direction of the Collison brothers, contributed $1 million toCalifornia YIMBY, a pro-housing development lobbying organisation.[15]
In September 2019, it was announced that Stripe had raised an additional $250 million at a valuation of $35 billion.[16] Together, the brothers hold acontrolling interest in Stripe.[17]
Both Collison and his younger brother John were featured on a young Irish persons rich list aired on an RTÉ television show during the 2008 Christmas period.[18]
On 18 July 2009, at the age of 20 and following the publication of theMcCarthy Report, Collison outlined his ideas for the future of Ireland on popular talk-showSaturday Night with Miriam.[6]
According to Collison, he reads books and is interested in a broad range of subjects on history, technology, engineering, fiction, philosophy, and art. He publishes the list of books he read onhis website. In November 2018, Collison published a piece inThe Atlantic withMichael Nielsen entitledScience is Getting Less Bang for its Buck, arguing that increased investment in science has not produced commensurate output. In 2019, Collison published an opinion piece in the same outlet withTyler Cowen arguing for a new academic discipline called "Progress Studies", which would study the cultural and institutional conditions which lead to the most progress and higher standards of living.[19]
Collison joined the board ofMeta Platforms in April 2025.[20]
A profile of the brothers published inForbes 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".[21] It claimed "shootings, pipe bomb attacks, and stabbings" happened there every night.[21] It also claimed that "Some bad neighbourhoods are even walled off by a dirty graffitied 10-foot-high barrier, like the Berlin Wall".[21]
The article received a lot of publicity online, causing a backlash.[21] Collison 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".[21] John tweeted it was "daft".[21]
Patrick O'Donovan, a parliamentary representative forLimerick County, called for the magazine and author to apologise to the people of Limerick "for the insult and hurt caused" by it.[21] 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."[21]Niall Collins, another representative for Limerick County, tweeted that the article was a "disgraceful description of Limerick, home to so many fine and decent people".[21]
The article was removed from the website on 9 April 2021.[21]
In April 2022, Collison married Swiss-American biochemist andStanford University professorSilvana Konermann, with whom he co-founded theArc Institute. Collison met Konermann during the 2004EU Young Scientist competition.[22][23]
Collison lives inSan Francisco, California.[24][25]
In November 2024, Collison was criticized for visiting Israel and posting an image with the Israeli flag,[26] amid theGaza war, at a time when millions of Palestinians and Israelis were under daily bombing and rocket attacks.[27][28][29]