Jim McKelvey
St. Louis, Missouri
Bachelor of Science, Washington University in St. Louis | Bachelor of Arts/Economics, Washington University in St. Louis
United States
mobile payments, Self Made
$1,600,000,000
1511
#1511 Billionaires 2019
Jim McKelvey cofounded payments firm Square with Jack Dorsey in 2009 after he had trouble selling a $2,000 art piece from his studio.McKelvey remains on Square's board, but has started a new company, Invisibly, which powers micropayments for journalism and publishing.He still owns a 5% stake in Square and has netted at least $270 million from selling Square shares.A serial entrepreneur, he has started at least seven companies, ranging from a CD cabinet maker to a glass-blowing studio.He also sits on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and started a nonprofit, LaunchCode, to teach people how to program.
McKelvey is the author of two textbooks on computer science and one textbook called "The Art Of Fire: Beginning Glassblowing."He hired Jack Dorsey as a teenager to be an engineering intern for his first tech company, Mira.
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