Stripe valuation set to hit $140bn in new tender offer

DCM Editorial Summary: This story has been independently rewritten and summarised for DCM readers to highlight key developments relevant to the region. Original reporting by Irish Times, click this post to read the original article.

Payments company Stripe is arranging a tender offer that would give the company cofounded by the Collison brothers a valuation of at least $140 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter.

That is a jump of more than $30 billion from its most recent valuation last year, when investors said Stripe was worth $107 billion. Terms of the latest tender offer could change, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing private information.

Stripe declined to comment. Axios first reported the latest valuation.

The company, co-founded by Patrick and John Collison, is one of the most closely watched potential candidates for an initial public offering, has set up frequent tenders since 2024 as a way to let employees sell shares without going public.

The latest deal is a sign that Stripe may continue to delay an IPO. The company has repeatedly said it’s content to remain a private company, including as recently as January, when John Collison told Bloomberg that Stripe was “still not in any rush” to go public.

Collison has said on several occasions that there were no immediate plans for an initial public offering (IPO) despite ongoing speculation the company would go public. Speaking to The Irish Times last year, he said it would be an “opt-in” project. “Stripe is a profitable business and we intend to run it that way for a long time,” he said.

The company was initially set up to make it easier for developers to accept payments online. Its products now include fraud prevention, invoices and billing, in-person payments and global payouts. In addition to its direct-payments operation, Stripe has also recently been investing in stablecoin technology.

The two brothers are worth an estimated $9.7 billion (€8.1 billion) each, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.

It now counts some of the biggest names in the world among its client list, from Ford and Hertz and Amazon to Zoom. Stripe has also captured a decent share of the AI market, with OpenAI, Leonardo and Moonbeam among its customers.

The company hasn’t announced new funding since 2023, when it grabbed $6.5 billion in a Series I financing led by Thrive Capital. Stripe reached full-year profitability in 2024.

Stripe recently acquired two companies to bolster its efforts to weave stablecoins into its core payments business. It bought infrastructure platform Bridge and crypto wallet provider Privy.

Last year, Stripe cut about 300 employees, or about 3.5 per cent of its workforce, as part of what the company described as a restructuring. Stripe has said it plans to keep hiring and grow its headcount despite the layoffs. – Additional reporting by Bloomberg