The purported deal, which has been rumored for months, is notable not just for its scale ' it would be one of the largest acquisitions of a technology company in recent years ' but also for its highly unusual nature. Privately held startups typically lack the cash, publicly traded shares and debt capacity to acquire their publicly listed brethren. Of course, Stripe is not just any privately held company. The fintech startup was, until just a few short years ago, the highest valued startup based in the U.S., before being eclipsed on that metric by AI labs Anthropic and OpenAI. In February, the company announced it had inked deals with investors to provide liquidity to current and former employees through a tender offer at a $159 billion valuation, which still ranks it as the fourth most valuable startup in the world. With substantial private capital ' it has raised some $10.4 billion since inception, per Crunchbase ' Stripe has long been one of the most acquisitive venture-backed...
learn more
