1: Stripe

This is the youngest billionaire you’ve never heard of...

He dropped out of MIT and built Stripe into a $95B company from his dorm room.

His growth strategy was so SMART that even PayPal, Square, and Visa execs were stunned.

Here’s the full story: 🧵 pic.twitter.com/bpSeX3P19a

— Gina Acosta (@ginacostag_) June 1, 2025

When Patrick showed this to PayPal execs, they laughed.

"It's impossible to make it that simple" they said. pic.twitter.com/qUucWu0Ov3

— Gina Acosta (@ginacostag_) June 1, 2025

But Patrick wasn't alone—he had his brother, John.

Both had been programming since the age of 10, and by the time they got to college, they were already making money from making iPhone apps.

Seeing the opportunity, they decided to drop out and build Stripe, originally named… pic.twitter.com/ZhYyqy8uUf

— Gina Acosta (@ginacostag_) June 1, 2025

They focused on one metric: developer happiness. If developers loved it, businesses would naturally follow.

Stripe joined Y Combinator, where investor Paul Graham called their demo “suspiciously good.” Even PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel was impressed, investing $2 million. pic.twitter.com/D0duPQGcVV

— Gina Acosta (@ginacostag_) June 1, 2025

Stripe's first office: A two-bedroom apartment with six people coding non-stop.

Their mission: "Increase the GDP of the internet."

Patrick's belief for the first 10 hires: pic.twitter.com/wrKwcRAyJ3

— Gina Acosta (@ginacostag_) June 1, 2025

In 2011, Stripe launched publicly at the perfect time:

• Shopify was gaining momentum
• App stores were booming
• SaaS was rapidly growing

Every startup needed simple payments—and Stripe delivered. pic.twitter.com/y7MNwf7bLt

— Gina Acosta (@ginacostag_) June 1, 2025

The growth was staggering:

• 2011: $1M processed
• 2012: $100M processed
• 2013: $1B processed
• 2015: $20B processed

Traditional banks dismissed it as "beginner's luck."
They couldn’t have been more wrong—here’s why: pic.twitter.com/QyL1jNXhV2

— Gina Acosta (@ginacostag_) June 1, 2025

Patrick realized payment complexity was a total waste.

While competitors kept adding features, Stripe removed them.

👉 As a result, developers could integrate payments in minutes, not weeks.

— Gina Acosta (@ginacostag_) June 1, 2025

By 2016, Stripe powered:

• Lyft
• Instacart
• DoorDash
• Shopify
• Amazon

The college dropout was now worth billions.

But that was not all. Patrick and John tackled other business headaches: pic.twitter.com/YRMAo9IT77

— Gina Acosta (@ginacostag_) June 1, 2025

By 2021, Stripe was valued at $95B—

More than:
• Goldman Sachs
• BMW
• Target

...And Patrick was only 32. pic.twitter.com/9XGn0axXWG

— Gina Acosta (@ginacostag_) June 1, 2025

The craziest part is that Stripe still processes less than 1% of global payments.

Its mission to "increase the GDP of the internet" is just beginning, and Patrick is just getting started.

Still, his story of success highlights the importance of hard work, identifying and… pic.twitter.com/Df5h4sBxrF

— Gina Acosta (@ginacostag_) June 1, 2025