Tobias Lutke

Tobias Lutke is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Shopify, operating out of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. A self-taught programmer who dropped out of high school in Germany, he launched the e-commerce platform in 2006 after initially building an online snowboard shop called Snowdevil. Under his leadership, Shopify has grown to support over two million merchants globally and reached a market capitalization exceeding $100 billion in 2024. Beyond his primary executive duties, Lutke manages a personal portfolio of more than 50 early-stage technology investments, backing prominent software and financial technology companies such as Snowflake, Carta, Brex, and Clearbit. He recently directed capital toward European artificial intelligence startups while overseeing the rollout of new AI-powered merchant tools like Sidekick. His current focus remains on expanding global e-commerce infrastructure, advancing enterprise software platforms, and funding next-generation developer tools.