Patrick Collison facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Patrick Collison
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Collison in 2015
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| Born | 9 September 1988 Dromineer, County Tipperary, Ireland
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| Education | Gaelscoil Aonach Urmhumhan Castletroy College Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Known for | Stripe, Fast Grants, Arc Institute |
| Spouse(s) |
Silvana Konermann
(m. 2022) |
| Relatives | John Collison (brother) |
| Awards | Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition (2004) BT Young Scientist of the Year (2005) |
Patrick Collison is an Irish entrepreneur. He was born on September 9, 1988. He is famous for co-founding Stripe with his younger brother, John. Stripe is a company that helps businesses accept payments online.
Patrick also won the Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in 2005 when he was sixteen. Later, he helped start Fast Grants in 2020 to speed up science research. In 2021, he co-founded Arc Institute, a research group, with other scientists.
Contents
Patrick Collison's Early Life
Patrick Collison grew up in a small village called Dromineer in County Tipperary, Ireland. His mother, Lily, was a microbiologist, and his father, Denis, was an electronic engineer. Patrick was the oldest of three brothers.
He started learning about computers very early. At eight years old, he took his first computer course. By the age of ten, he was already learning how to program computers. He went to school in Nenagh and then Castletroy College.
Patrick Collison's Career Journey
Winning the Young Scientist Award
Patrick first entered the Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition when he was fifteen. His project was about artificial intelligence, which he named 'Isaac'. He finished as a runner-up that year.
The next year, in 2005, he entered again and won first place! He was sixteen years old. His winning project was a new programming language he created called Croma. The President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, gave him his prize.
Starting Auctomatic
Patrick went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States. However, he left college in 2009 to focus on starting businesses.
In 2007, he and his brother John started a software company called 'Shuppa' in Limerick, Ireland. They later moved to California and merged with other graduates to form a company called Auctomatic.
In March 2008, when Patrick was nineteen and John was seventeen, they sold Auctomatic. This made them millionaires. Patrick believes his success with Auctomatic was helped by his win at the Young Scientist Exhibition.
Building Stripe
In 2010, Patrick and John Collison started their most famous company, Stripe. Stripe's goal is to make it easier for businesses to accept payments online.
In 2011, Stripe received a lot of money from investors. These investors included famous people like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, who helped create PayPal.
By November 2016, Patrick and John became the world's youngest self-made billionaires. Stripe was valued at $9.2 billion. By 2017, each brother was worth at least $3.2 billion.
In September 2019, Stripe raised another $250 million, making the company worth $35 billion. The brothers still have a major say in how Stripe is run.
Other Projects and Interests
Patrick Collison is interested in many subjects, including history, technology, and philosophy. He shares a list of books he reads on his website.
In 2018, he wrote an article with Michael Nielsen for The Atlantic. They discussed how science might be getting less effective despite more money being spent on it. In 2019, he wrote another article with Tyler Cowen. They suggested a new field of study called "Progress Studies." This field would look at what helps societies make the most progress and improve living standards.
Patrick Collison joined the board of Meta Platforms in April 2025.
Personal Life
In April 2022, Patrick Collison married Silvana Konermann. She is a biochemist and a professor at Stanford University. They met during a science competition in 2004. They also co-founded the Arc Institute together.
Patrick Collison lives in San Francisco, California.
See also
In Spanish: Patrick Collison para niños
