Last month,
City Index released a list of top 10 youngest UK billionaires in 2023. Revolut founder
Nik Storonsky emerged in second place, highlighting not just the decreasing age of today’s super-rich, but also the growing wealth emerging from fintechs. Digitisation, evolving consumer demands, and pandemic-induced shifts in the way people save, invest
and pay have offered opportunities for innovative fintechs to thrive in a changing world.
So, who are the fintech billionaires?
Michael Bloomberg, Bloomberg L.P.
Estimated net worth:
$96.3 billion
Arguably one of the most successful fintech founders, Michael Bloomberg founded Bloomberg L.P. back in 1981. Since then, the financial, software, data, and media company has grown to generate an estimated $10 billion in revenue annually. Bloomberg retains
an 88% stake in the company, making him the 15th wealthiest person in the world at the time of writing. He also served as mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013 and has pledged to donate his stake in Bloomberg L.P. to philanthropic causes upon his death.
Patrick Collinson, Stripe
Estimated net worth :
$5.5 billion
Collinson is the co-founder and CEO of Stripe, the multinational financial services and SaaS company.
In January 2023, Stripe cut its internal valuation to $63 billion after laying off 1100 employees a few months prior, citing the “beginning of a different economic climate”.
Jack Ma, Ant Group
Estimated net worth: $24.6 billion
Ma is one of the co-founders of the Alibaba Group, as well as the founder of Alibaba’s fintech arm Ant Group. Ant Group additionally owns the world's largest mobile payment platform Alipay, serving over 1.3 billion users and 80 million merchants.
In July 2023, Ant Group was fined $985m for violating a host of laws and regulations.
Guillaume Pousaz, Checkout.com
Estimated net worth:
$7.2 billion
Pousaz is the founder and CEO of the online payment processing solution Checkout.com. Founded in 2012, the company recently
slashed its valuation from $40 billion to $11 billion. Despite the cut in valuation, in November 2023 Checkout.com reported a growth of over 40% YoY across its core sectors of Commerce and Fintech.
Brian Armstrong, Coinbase
Estimated net worth:
$5.3 billion
Armstrong co-founded the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase in 2012 and owns about 19% of the companies shares. Coinbase is currently valuated at $28.9 billion and, last year,
received approval to bring federally regulated crypto futures trading to eligible US customers.
Nik Storonsky, Revolut
Estimated net worth: $3.3 billion
Storonsky co-founded and is current CEO of the global neobank and financial technology company Revolut. Launched in 2015, Revolut now has over
30 million customers and is valuated at $18 billion..
Chris Britt, Chime
Estimated net worth: $2.2 billion
Britt is the co-founder of the San Francisco-based startup Chime, the mobile banking app and debit card with no overdraft fees. During the first year of the pandemic, Chime tripled its value, raising $485 million in funding and exponentially growing its
customer base thanks to its stimulus advance feature, which let users borrow $1,200 before the government checks arrived. Chime is currently valuated at $25 billion.
David Velez, Nubank
Estimated net worth: $9.3 billion
In 20213, Velez co-founded the Sao Paolo-based neobank Nubank. Seizing on a significant pain point in Brazil’s financial landscape, Nubank took aim at the historically high fees and banks’ poor customer service in the country. Its primary focus on providing
customer value have helped the bank gain 90 million customers.
Nubank is currently valuated at $45 billion.
Victor Jacobsson and Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Klarna
Estimated net worth:
$4 billion and
$3.2 billion
Siemiatkowski and Jacobsson co-founded Klarna in 2005. Providing customers with easy access to small installment loans, the Swedes pioneered the buy-now, pay-later payment model. Today, Klarna has over 150 million active users, and recently
announced its entry into the subscription service model with the launch of Klarna Plus. Jacobsson left the company in 2012, but retains a stake in the business, while Siemiatkowski remains as CEO of Klarna.
Max Levchin, Affirm
Estimated net worth: $1.2 billion
Levchin founded eight companies, among which are fintech giants such as Paypal and Affirm. Today, he serves as CEO of Affirm, which serves over 13 million customers and is valuated at $12 billion. As a buy-now, pay-later company, Affirm recently announced
new partnerships with
Blackhawk Network and
Walmat, the latter of which will bring BNPL payments to self-checkout kiosks.