Patrick Collison

Patrick Collison
Born	(1988-09-09) September 9, 1988 Dromineer, County Tipperary, Ireland
Occupation(s)	Business leader, entrepreneur
Years active	2005–present
Known for	Co-founder and CEO of Stripe

Patrick Collison (born 9 September 1988) is an Irish business leader and co-founder as well as CEO of Stripe, which he established in 2010 alongside his brother, John. At the age of sixteen, he secured victory at the 41st Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in 2005. In 2020, he partnered with economist Tyler Cowen to launch Fast Grants, aimed at expediting research related to COVID-19. The following year, he co-founded the nonprofit organization Arc Institute together with bioscientists Silvana Konermann and Patrick Hsu.

Early life

Patrick was born on 9 September 1988 to Lily, a microbiologist, and Denis Collison, an electronic engineer. He was raised in the village of Dromineer, located in County Tipperary, Ireland. As the eldest of three siblings, he began computer classes at the University of Limerick when he was eight years old and started coding by ten.

His education included attendance at Gaelscoil Aonach Urmhumhan in Nenagh, followed by studies at Castletroy College in Castletroy, County Limerick.

Young Scientist

At the 40th Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, Collison presented an artificial intelligence project called 'Isaac', named after Isaac Newton, earning him second place as an individual competitor. Returning the next year, he achieved first place at sixteen with a project that developed Croma, a programming language inspired by LISP.

His award included a €7,500 cash prize and a Waterford Crystal trophy, which was presented by then-President Mary McAleese. His younger brother Tommy also took part in the competition in 2010 with a blogging-related project.

Auctomatic

Collison enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology but left in 2009 to focus on entrepreneurial ventures. In 2007, he co-founded a software company named 'Shuppa'—derived from the Irish term for 'shop'—in Limerick together with his brother John Collison. After being declined funding by Enterprise Ireland, they relocated to California following interest from Silicon Valley's accelerator program, Y Combinator. There, they joined forces with Oxford graduates Harjeet and Kulveer Taggar to create Auctomatic.

In March 2008, when they were nineteen and seventeen years old respectively, they sold Auctomatic to Canadian firm Live Current Media, making them millionaires. Subsequently, Collison took on the role of director of engineering at Live Current Media's office in Vancouver. He attributes much of his company's achievements to his earlier success at the Young Scientist competition.

Stripe

In 2010, Collison co-established Stripe, which in 2011 attracted $2 million in funding from PayPal founders Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, along with venture capital firms such as Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and SV Angel.

By November 2016, the Collison siblings had become the youngest self-made billionaires globally, with a combined net worth exceeding $1.1 billion after investments from CapitalG and General Catalyst valued Stripe at $9.2 billion. By 2017, each brother's individual net worth had risen to roughly $3.2 billion.

Under their guidance, Stripe donated $1 million in 2018 to California YIMBY, supporting initiatives that promote housing development.

In September 2019, Stripe secured an additional $250 million in funding, increasing its valuation to $35 billion. The Collison brothers continue to hold a majority stake in the company.

Other

Both Collison brothers appeared on RTÉ’s list of wealthy young Irish individuals during Christmas 2008.

On 18 July 2009, at age 20 and following the publication of the McCarthy Report, Patrick Collison shared his perspectives on Ireland’s future during an appearance on the talk show Saturday Night with Miriam.

Patrick Collison has a wide-ranging intellectual curiosity encompassing history, technology, engineering, fiction, philosophy, and art; he publishes his reading list on his personal website. In November 2018, he co-wrote an article in The Atlantic discussing how increased scientific funding may experience diminishing returns. In 2019, he introduced the concept of "Progress Studies," a proposed academic discipline focused on exploring cultural and institutional factors that drive innovation and economic advancement.

In April 2025, Collison joined the board of Meta Platforms.

Forbes article

A 2021 profile by Forbes depicted Limerick as a "warzone" beset by gang-related violence and referred to it as "the 'murder capital' of Europe," highlighting frequent nighttime shootings and stabbings. The piece also described some neighborhoods as being segregated by walls reminiscent of the Berlin Wall. This characterization provoked widespread criticism online.

Patrick Collison responded by disputing the accuracy of this portrayal and rejected the idea that he needed to "overcome" his background, expressing pride in his upbringing. John Collison described the article as "nonsensical." Politicians including Patrick O'Donovan and Niall Collins denounced the report, demanding an apology and inviting the author to visit Limerick personally.

As a result of the backlash, the article was taken down from the website on 9 April 2021.

Personal life

In April 2022, Collison married Silvana Konermann, a Swiss-American biochemist and Stanford professor with whom he co-founded the Arc Institute. The two first met at the 2004 EU Young Scientist competition.

Collison currently lives in San Francisco, California.

In November 2024, Collison faced criticism after traveling to Israel and sharing a photo featuring the Israeli flag amid the Gaza conflict that had caused significant casualties. This led to calls for a boycott of Stripe.