Stripe, a payments start-up that has been one of the most valuable privately held tech companies in Silicon Valley, lowered its internal valuation 28 percent in July 2022. Investors had valued Stripe at $95 billion last year. The new internal share price, which does not affect the value of shares owned by external investors, puts it at $74 billion. But the company has been in a topsy-turvy stretch since 2022, when it laid off more than 1,000 workers. In January 2025, it suddenly laid off 300 workers. Stripe was founded in 2010 by the entrepreneurs and brothers John and Patrick Collison. Its software allows companies to process payments online. The company started out selling to small start-ups and expanded to larger companies, reportedly bringing in $2.5 billion in net revenue last year, according to Forbes. It employs more than 8,000 people