Collison brothers 'plan stock market debut of €95bn Stripe payments startup'

Company has taken its first major step toward a stock market debut by hiring a law firm to help with its plans

Patrick and John Collison, co-founders of Stripe, which has become Siilcon Valley's most valuable private startup.

Digital payments processor Stripe, the most valuable Silicon Valley startup that is led by Ireland's young Collison brothers, has taken its first major step toward a stock market debut by hiring a law firm to help with its plans, Reuters has reported. 

The 11-year-old company, which was valued by investors at $95bn (€80bn) in a fundraising round as recently as March, in which the Irish State through the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, or Isif, injected $50m. 

Tapping the stock market would for the brothers, John and Patrick, who are still in their early 30s, unlock some of an estimated wealth of about €10bn, underpinned by the March funding round.  

1,000 jobs in Ireland

At the same time, Stripe had announced something of a homecoming by pledging a further 1,000 jobs in Ireland over the coming years. 

That will add to the 300 people they already employ at its key European head office here. 

Remaining private had enabled Stripe to keep financial details of revenue and profitability under wraps. 

Yet this has also deprived it of using its shares as a publicly traded currency to help finance acquisitions and to incentivise employees.

Reuters has reported that Stripe has now tapped Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton as a legal adviser on its early-stage stock listing preparations. 

According to reports, there has been no decision on the timing of the stock market debut, and the next step would be the hiring of investment banks later this year. 

The listing would unlikely happen this year. 

Stripe is considering going public through a direct listing, rather than a traditional IPO, because it does not need to raise money. 

Stripe was founded in 2010 by brothers Patrick and John Collison. 

Reputation as nerds

The brothers, from Tipperary and schooled in Limerick, have deliberately fashioned a reputation as nerds, even though the image doesn't last for long on their occasional TV appearances, including on the Late Late Show.

Stripe processes hundreds of billions of dollars in transactions every year for millions of businesses worldwide. Its list of clients includes Google, Uber, Amazon, and Zoom. 

Early investors include Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and Google’s venture capital arm.

John Collison told Bloomberg Television in an interview last month that Stripe, which has headquarters in both Dublin and San Francisco, may go public one day but there were no current plans for a listing.  

Silicon Valley sensation

The Collison brothers had already made Stripe the Silicon Valley sensation as the internet payments company they created thrived out of its San Francisco base.

It had vaulted to become Silicon Valley's most valuable private startup. 

Earlier this year, Stripe's European growth strategy unfolded when former Bank of England governor Mark Carney, the Canadian who has an Irish passport, joined the Stripe board, just as the latest finding round was drawing to a close. 

Stripe is still small in terms of big tech valuations. 

At over $2trn, Saudi oil producer Aramco and Apple vie with each other as the world's most valuable firms.