John and Patrick Collison

John and Patrick Collison were child prodigies of sorts. As teenagers, they racked up awards in Ireland for their preternatural scientific and technological talents. By the time Patrick was 19 and John was 17, they’d sold their first company. It was an auspicious beginning that somehow undersold their future: Since 2010, the two have built Stripe into one of the world’s most valuable private companies, with a valuation of $70 billion. To call Stripe a payments company is almost an oversimplification, as Stripe’s size and scope have made it more than the sum of its parts: In 2023, Stripe processed more than $1 trillion in payment volume. Stripe even has a publication arm, Stripe Press. Together, the Collisons have endured down rounds, worldwide expansions, and the inexorable drumbeat of one question that has yet to be answered: When will Stripe go public?