In a major move that solidifies its status as a global fintech powerhouse, Stripe is reportedly arranging a new tender offer that would value the company at at least $140 billion.
This news, which emerged on February 9–10, 2026, indicates a 31% jump from its $107 billion valuation just a few months ago in late 2025. It also marks a nearly threefold recovery from the $50 billion “low” the company hit during the 2023 tech downturn.
The $140B Tender Offer: Key Details
Unlike a traditional funding round where new capital enters the company, this secondary share sale allows employees and early investors to cash out some of their equity.
| Metric | Details (as of Feb 11, 2026) |
| Projected Valuation | $140 Billion+ |
| Previous Valuation | $107 Billion (Sept 2025) |
| 2021 Peak Valuation | $95 Billion |
| Tender Mechanism | Employee and early investor share sale |
| Lead Investors | Likely including Thrive Capital and Goldman Sachs |
Why Stripe’s Valuation is Skyrocketing
The “premium” valuation reflects Stripe’s aggressive expansion into high-margin sectors over the last 18 months.
1. The “Native” Infrastructure for AI
Stripe has positioned itself as the essential billing layer for the AI revolution.
- Agentic Commerce: In late 2025, Stripe and OpenAI co-launched a protocol that allows AI agents to complete purchases independently while handling compliance and settlement.
- Usage-Based Billing: Following its acquisition of Metronome, Stripe now offers the industry-standard “metered pricing” used by almost all major AI labs (including Anthropic and Midjourney).
2. Stablecoin & Crypto Dominance
Stripe’s 2024–2025 acquisitions of Bridge (stablecoin platform) and Privy (crypto wallet) are paying off.
- Tempo Blockchain: Stripe’s joint crypto venture, Tempo, recently launched KlarnaUSD, signaling a shift where Stripe is now building the “rails” for the next generation of digital payments.
3. Operational Maturity
Unlike many of its fintech peers, Stripe is demonstrating significant financial discipline:
- Profitability: The company achieved consistent profitability in 2024 and 2025.
- Market Share: Stripe now serves 87% of the Fortune 500 and nearly 80% of the Forbes Cloud 100.
The “Permanent Private” Strategy?
The repeated use of tender offers (this is the third major one since 2024) suggests that Stripe is in no rush to IPO.
- Liquidity Without Scrutiny: By facilitating these sales, the Collison brothers can provide liquidity to long-term employees without the quarterly earnings pressure or regulatory overhead of the public markets.
- IPO Outlook: Prediction markets currently place a 93% probability that Stripe will not go public before June 30, 2026. Founder John Collison recently reiterated at Davos (January 2026) that the company is “satisfied with remaining private.”
[Image: Stripe valuation timeline 2021-2026: The “V” Shaped Recovery]
Conclusion: A New Fintech Benchmark
At $140 billion, Stripe would be valued higher than most established global banks and nearly double its closest public competitor, PayPal (market cap ~$80B). This valuation signals that private investors are betting on Stripe not just as a payment processor, but as the underlying operating system for the entire internet economy.
