Stripe is privately owned, and as such investment in Stripe stock is only available to a small number of investors, most of whom are well known to us.

We have become aware of certain investment funds that do not own any Stripe stock claiming to offer retail investors access to Stripe. The basic premise tends to be something like, “you can’t get direct access to Stripe, but invest in us and we will get it for you.” And yet, these firms do not themselves have access to Stripe stock. If these funds claim to have found some way to indirectly invest in Stripe via others who do own Stripe stock, we cannot vouch for the legality of their claims or the value of their supposed investments. Indeed, if they are relying on “forward” contracts or other mechanisms that attempt to circumvent the rights of first refusal, transfer restrictions, and other terms and conditions applicable to investment in Stripe stock, their investments may have no value at all, as explained in this article. 

If you have concerns about a fund that is claiming to have access to Stripe stock and marketing that access to retail investors, please contact us at legal-corporate-confidential@stripe.com. 

If anyone is claiming to sell you shares of Stripe stock (vs. an investment in a fund that claims to own shares), please see this article.