Editing Patrick Collison (section)

==Career==
===Young Scientist===
Collison entered the 40th [[Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition]] with his project on [[artificial intelligence]] (nicknamed 'Isaac' after [[Isaac Newton]], whom Patrick admired), finishing as individual runner-up.<ref name="Maths project wins Young Scientist">{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0109/scientist.html|title=Maths project wins Young Scientist|date=9 January 2004|publisher=[[RTÉ]]|access-date=24 January 2010|archive-date=22 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110222155257/http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0109/scientist.html|url-status=live}}</ref> He re-entered the following year, and won first place at the age of sixteen on 14 January 2005.<ref name="Saturday Night with Miriam"/><ref name="Young Scientist of the Year is chosen in Dublin"/> His project involved the creation of Croma, a [[Lisp programming language|LISP]]-type programming language.<ref name="Young Scientist of the Year is chosen in Dublin">{{cite news|author=Emma O'Kelly |url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0114/9news.html |title=Young Scientist of the Year is chosen in Dublin |date=14 January 2005 |publisher=[[RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock]] |access-date=24 January 2010}}{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/young-scientists-where-creativity-and-charm-collide-1.3357542|title=Young Scientists: where creativity and charm collide|last=O'Brien|first=Ciara|date=2018-01-18|work=The Irish Times|access-date=2018-03-26|language=en-US|archive-date=26 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326203230/https://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/young-scientists-where-creativity-and-charm-collide-1.3357542|url-status=live}}</ref>

His prize of a €7,500 cheque and a trophy of [[Waterford Crystal]] was presented to him by [[President of Ireland|President]] [[Mary McAleese]].<ref name="Million dollar boy who changed the face of the web"/> His younger brother Tommy participated with his project on [[blogging]] in the Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in 2010.<ref name="Colin shows he's fit for success">{{cite news|author=Tommy Collison|url=http://trusttommy.com/2010/01/18/young-scientist-report/|title=Young Scientist Report on Blogging|access-date=8 February 2010|archive-date=25 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100125215500/http://trusttommy.com/2010/01/18/young-scientist-report/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Auctomatic===
He attended [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]], but eventually dropped out in 2009 after starting businesses.<ref name="Million dollar boy who changed the face of the web"/><ref name=telegraph-20210223/> In 2007, he set up software company 'Shuppa' (a play on the Irish word {{wikt-lang|ga|siopa}}, meaning 'shop') in [[Limerick]] with his brother [[John Collison]].<ref name="Limerick brothers sell company for millions"/> [[Enterprise Ireland]] did not allocate funding to the company, prompting a move to California after [[Silicon Valley]]'s [[Y Combinator (company)|Y Combinator]] showed interest, where they merged with two [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] graduates, Harjeet and Kulveer Taggar, and the company became Auctomatic.<ref name="Limerick brothers sell company for millions"/>

On [[Good Friday]] of March 2008, Collison, aged nineteen, and his brother, aged seventeen, sold Auctomatic to Canadian company Live Current Media, becoming millionaires.<ref name="Limerick brothers sell company for millions">{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0327/collison.html?rss|title=Limerick brothers sell company for millions|date=27 March 2008|publisher=[[RTÉ]]|access-date=24 January 2010|archive-date=24 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110224111357/http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0327/collison.html?rss|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Teenagers become web millionaires">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7316143.stm|title=Teenagers become web millionaires|date=27 March 2008|publisher=BBC|access-date=24 January 2010|archive-date=17 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101017131625/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7316143.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> In May 2008, he became director of engineering at the company's new [[Vancouver]] base.<ref name="Million dollar boy who changed the face of the web"/><ref name="Limerick brothers sell company for millions"/> Collison attributes the success of his company to his win in the Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.<ref name="Million dollar boy who changed the face of the web"/>

===Stripe===
In 2010, Collison co-founded [[Stripe, Inc.|Stripe]], which in 2011 received investment of $2 million including from PayPal co-founders [[Elon Musk]] and [[Peter Thiel]], and venture capital firms [[Sequoia Capital]], [[Andreessen Horowitz]], and [[SV Angel]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Stealth Payment Startup Stripe Backed By PayPal Founders |url=https://techcrunch.com/2011/03/28/stealth-payment-startup-stripe-paypal |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170212091815/https://techcrunch.com/2011/03/28/stealth-payment-startup-stripe-paypal/ |archive-date=12 February 2017 |access-date=8 February 2017}}</ref><ref name="telegraph-20210223" />

In November 2016, the Collison brothers became the world's youngest self-made billionaires, worth at least $1.1 billion, after an investment in Stripe from CapitalG and [[General Catalyst|General Catalyst Partners]] valued the company at $9.2 billion.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mac |first=Ryan |title=Stripe Investment Makes Cofounder The World's Youngest Self-Made Billionaire |newspaper=Forbes |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2016/11/28/stripe-investment-makes-cofounder-the-worlds-youngest-self-made-billionaire/#4e3a548d41b4 |url-status=live |access-date=2 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413012150/https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2016/11/28/stripe-investment-makes-cofounder-the-worlds-youngest-self-made-billionaire/#4e3a548d41b4 |archive-date=13 April 2019}}</ref> By 2017, the brothers were notionally worth at least $3.2 billion each.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2017-08-01 |title=How Two 20-Somethings From Ireland Built a $9.2 Billion Company |work=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-08-01/how-two-brothers-turned-seven-lines-of-code-into-a-9-2-billion-startup |url-status=live |access-date=2017-10-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190529035451/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-08-01/how-two-brothers-turned-seven-lines-of-code-into-a-9-2-billion-startup |archive-date=29 May 2019}}</ref>

In 2018, Stripe, under the direction of the Collison brothers, contributed $1 million to [[YIMBY#United States|California YIMBY]], a pro-housing development lobbying organisation.<ref>{{cite web |last=Torres |first=Blanca |date=2018-05-03 |title=Are tech CEOs finally tackling the Bay Area housing crisis? Stripe jumps into the fight |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2018/05/03/tech-ceos-housing-crisis-stripe-salesforce-yelp.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027152429/https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2018/05/03/tech-ceos-housing-crisis-stripe-salesforce-yelp.html |archive-date=27 October 2020 |website=San Francisco Business Times}}</ref>

In September 2019, it was announced that Stripe had raised an additional $250 million at a valuation of $35 billion.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Metcalf |first1=Tom |last2=Verhage |first2=Julie |title=Stripe Brothers Become Richest Self-Made Irish Billionaires |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-20/stripe-brothers-become-ireland-s-richest-self-made-billionaires |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190920180144/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-20/stripe-brothers-become-ireland-s-richest-self-made-billionaires |archive-date=20 September 2019 |access-date=21 September 2019 |website=Bloomberg}}</ref> Together, the brothers hold a [[controlling interest]] in Stripe.<ref>{{cite web |last=Rudegeair |first=Peter |date=26 September 2018 |title=Payments Fintech Stripe Valued at $20 Billion in Latest Funding Round |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/payments-fintech-stripe-valued-at-20-billion-in-latest-funding-round-1537994284 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203210757/https://www.wsj.com/articles/payments-fintech-stripe-valued-at-20-billion-in-latest-funding-round-1537994284 |archive-date=3 February 2020 |access-date=3 February 2020 |via=www.wsj.com}}</ref>

===Other===
Both Collison and his younger brother John were featured on a young Irish persons rich list aired on an RTÉ television show during the 2008 Christmas period.<ref name="Three to Watch">{{cite news|url=http://www.insideview.ie/irisheyes/2009/01/two-to-watch.html|title=Three to Watch|date=5 January 2009|publisher=Inside View from Ireland|access-date=24 January 2010|archive-date=30 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100130200513/http://www.insideview.ie/irisheyes/2009/01/two-to-watch.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 18 July 2009, at the age of 20 and following the publication of the [[McCarthy Report]], Collison outlined his ideas for the future of Ireland on popular talk-show ''[[Saturday Night with Miriam]]''.<ref name="Saturday Night with Miriam">{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/tv/miriam/20090718.html |title=Saturday Night with Miriam|date=18 July 2009|publisher=[[Saturday Night with Miriam]]|access-date=24 January 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090801122940/http://www.rte.ie/tv/miriam/20090718.html|archive-date=1 August 2009}}</ref>

{{anchor|Progress studies}}
According to Collison, he reads books and is interested in a broad range of subjects on history, technology, engineering, fiction, philosophy, and art. He publishes the list of books he read on [https://patrickcollison.com/bookshelf his website]. In November 2018, Collison published a piece in ''[[The Atlantic]]'' with [[Michael Nielsen]] entitled [https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/11/diminishing-returns-science/575665/ Science is Getting Less Bang for its Buck], arguing that increased investment in science has not produced commensurate output. In 2019, Collison published an opinion piece in the same outlet with [[Tyler Cowen]] arguing for a new academic discipline called "Progress Studies", which would study the cultural and institutional conditions which lead to the most progress and higher standards of living.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Collison |first1=Patrick |last2=Cowen |first2=Tyler |title=We Need a New Science of Progress |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/07/we-need-new-science-progress/594946/ |access-date=1 December 2019 |work=The Atlantic |date=30 July 2019 |archive-date=30 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191130141428/https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/07/we-need-new-science-progress/594946/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Collison joined the board of [[Meta Platforms]] in April 2025.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Griffin |first=Riley |date=2025-04-12 |title=Meta adds Stripe CEO Patrick Collison to board of directors |url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/meta-adds-stripe-ceo-patrick-collison-to-board-of-directors/a1025719872.html |access-date=2025-05-22 |work=Irish Independent |language=en}}</ref>