Tobi Lütke
Born 1980 · Age 45
German–Canadian entrepreneur, programmer and racing driver; co-founder and CEO of Shopify; early contributor to Ruby on Rails; philanthropist and motorsport competitor.
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in Koblenz, West Germany
Born in Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate, West Germany.
Received Schneider CPC computer
Received a Schneider CPC (Amstrad CPC variant) from his parents — early exposure to computing.
Began rewriting game code and modifying hardware
At about 11–12 years old began reverse-engineering and rewriting code for games and tinkering with hardware as a hobby.
Left school; started apprenticeship at Carl-Benz-School
Dropped out after tenth grade and entered an apprenticeship program at the Koblenzer Carl‑Benz‑School to become a computer programmer.
Programmer role for Siemens subsidiary
At about 17 he began programming for a Siemens subsidiary (early professional programming experience).
Moved from Germany to Canada
Emigrated to Canada (Ottawa area), later becoming a naturalized Canadian.
Founded Snowdevil (online snowboard shop)
Launched Snowdevil with partners Daniel Weinand and Scott Lake — original business that sparked the platform that would become Shopify.
Built custom e-commerce platform in Ruby on Rails
Built a new e‑commerce platform for Snowdevil using Ruby on Rails — this codebase later evolved into Shopify.
Contributed to Ruby on Rails and created Active Merchant (mid-2000s)
Part of the early Rails ecosystem and created open-source libraries (e.g., Active Merchant) used by e‑commerce developers.
Shopify founder assumes CEO role
Lütke has served as Shopify's CEO since its early days; some sources date his active CEO role from ca. 2006–2008 (company leadership solidified in early years).
Launched Shopify (pivot from Snowdevil)
Snowdevil founders shifted focus from retailing snowboards to providing an easy e‑commerce platform and launched Shopify.
Pre-launch marketing: collected thousands of signups
Before launch the team had collected roughly 4,000–5,000 emails via blog/landing page outreach (early user pipeline).
Angel investment from John Phillips (~CA$400k)
An angel investor (John Phillips) invested approximately CA$400,000 in Shopify, providing crucial runway when funds were low.
Switched Shopify to subscription pricing
Transitioned Shopify from a commission-based/free model to subscription pricing (key business-model change).
Global financial crisis accelerates founder-driven entrepreneurship
2008 recession helped drive people toward entrepreneurship; Shopify saw increased adoption as many started online stores.
Shopify named #1 Fastest Growing Company
Shopify appeared on Fastest Growing Companies lists (press coverage highlighting rapid growth).
Raised $7M in venture funding
Shopify announced a $7 million venture financing round (broadly reported in Dec 2010).
Additional venture investment (~$15M) (reported)
Reported subsequent VC backing (approx. $15M) that expanded marketing and growth efforts (date reported in founder interviews; timing estimated 2011).
Speaking: Business of Software conference (approx.)
Spoke at Business of Software (Tobias Lütke public speaking at industry conferences documented around 2011).
Shopify reaches ~80,000 customers and ~300 employees
By end of 2013 Shopify reported roughly 80,000 customers (stores) and about 300 employees — notable scale milestone.
Named 'CEO of the Year' by The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail awarded Lütke 'CEO of the Year' (major national recognition in Canada).
Led restoration/purchase of Opinicon resort
Reported involvement in restoring the Opinicon resort (personal investment / family project reported in Jan 2015 coverage).
Shopify IPO (public listing on NYSE/NASDAQ)
Shopify went public (major liquidity event and company milestone).
Shopify launches brick-and-mortar pilot (physical retail initiative)
Shopify launched a brick-and-mortar store initiative to help merchants sell offline (reported May 2018).
Awarded the Meritorious Service Cross
Presented with the Meritorious Service Cross for supporting growth of the Canadian technology industry.
Press coverage: Shopify growth dramatically increases founder wealth (2019)
Press reported Shopify's stock surge in 2019 created multiple new billionaires and drastically increased Lütke's personal wealth (fortune reported to have doubled in a prior 6-month period in 2019 coverage).
Donated to Team Trees campaign (MrBeast)
Made a large donation to the Team Trees campaign; later reporting shows he is a top donor across multiple charity campaigns.
Advocated and implemented remote-first (digital-by-default) workplace at Shopify
Shopify shifted to a remote-first model in 2020 (leadership positioned company for permanent remote work).
Donated to Team Seas campaign (MrBeast & Mark Rober)
Made a major donation to the Team Seas ocean cleanup charity drive (part of a multi-year pattern of large donations).
Invested in Creative Layer (with others) — US$3M
Announced that Lütke and others invested US$3 million in Creative Layer (print-on-demand platform integrating with Shopify).
Public debate: defended free-speech policies on platform content
Faced public criticism and debated Shopify's platform content moderation (notable 2017 instance hosting controversial merchants; ongoing commentary through 2022–2025).
Ranked 11th richest person in Canada (2022)
Reported as the 11th richest Canadian in 2022 (national wealth ranking).
Regained German citizenship (tweet)
Public tweet indicated he 'got my German citizenship back today' — became a dual national (Germany and Canada).
Joined the board of Coinbase
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced Lütke would join its board of directors (board appointment).
Reported ownership stake: ~7% of Shopify; controls ~40% voting interest
Public filings and reporting indicate Lütke owned ~7% of outstanding shares while controlling ~40% of voting power due to share-class structure (reported in public filings/press).
Shareholder vote — 'founder's share' preliminary approval reported
Media reported Shopify shareholders preliminarily approved a founder's share structure giving Lütke increased founder control/voting influence (reported March 2023).
HSR Prototype Challenge — Amateur Class champion (season summary)
Competed in HSR Prototype Challenge (presented by IMSA) and finished 1st in Amateur Class for the 2024 season (season summary indicates 6 races: 3 wins).
Announced as Era Motorsport driver for 2025 Rolex 24 / LMP2
Era Motorsport announced Lütke would drive in the 2025 Rolex 24 and contest IMSA LMP2 rounds with co-drivers Paul‑Loup Chatin, Ryan Dalziel and David Heinemeier Hansson.
Competes in 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship — LMP2 entrant
Entered the full 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship season in LMP2 with Era Motorsport (season ongoing in 2025).
Donations to Team Trees / Team Seas / Team Water — top donor status (2019, 2021, 2025); cumulative reported
Across Team Trees (2019), Team Seas (2021) and Team Water (2025) donated large sums and reportedly topped donation leaderboards; cumulative reported total: US$2,700,002.
Competed in 2025 Rolex 24 at Daytona (LMP2 class) — 12th overall, 4th in class
Drove the Era Motorsport Oreca 07 LMP2 in the 2025 Rolex 24 with co-drivers; recorded finishing positions: 12th overall and 4th in class.
Net worth reported at US$11.1 billion (Forbes/Wikipedia summary)
Public wealth reporting (Forbes/Wikipedia summary) lists Tobias Lütke's net worth as US$11.1 billion as of February 2025.
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