Meet the Gen Z founder whose $1.6 billion startup made 650 creators millionaires

The company claims more than 650 users have become millionaires by selling everything from coaching programs and online courses to meal kits and health products on its platform. And behind all this is a 26-year-old CEO, Steven Schwartz, who believes people should be able to earn a living doing work they genuinely enjoy. 

Appearing for an interview with Fortune, Schwartz said, “The future’s gonna look like everyone is complete of their own agency, and [are] spending their days doing the work that they find way more fun than what they’re doing today.”

A platform where passions can become businesses 

Whop describes itself as a social commerce platform where people can make money from their skills, knowledge, content and products. Unlike larger online marketplaces that cater to broad audiences, Whop often helps creators and entrepreneurs find smaller, more specific groups of customers. 

The company says many users have turned those niche businesses into full-time careers. Among them is Shelby Haas, who reportedly earns around $1 million every month teaching remote sales through the platform.

Another success story is Troy Adashun, who built a million-dollar business selling health products through his company, Alpha Lion Supplements. 

Another success story is Troy Adashun, who built a million-dollar business selling health products through his company, Alpha Lion Supplements. 

A childhood spent building businesses 

Raised by military parents who worked in medicine, Schwartz spent much of his childhood moving between different countries and cities. He lived in places including China, Honolulu, Chicago and Springfield, Illinois. 

While growing up, he found different ways to make money. At one point, he sold water on the streets of China. Later, he worked as a hockey referee in Illinois. Before finishing high school, Schwartz had already worked for a hedge fund in New York City, according to Fortune.

While studying at New York University’s Stern School of Business, he also interned with Accenture in Singapore. Over the years, he launched three companies before eventually creating Whop. Today, he says too many people still view work as something they simply have to endure.

How was Whop created?

At the age of 13, Schwartz started building and selling iOS applications from his bedroom. Working alongside Cameron Zoub, who would later become Whop’s co-founder and chief growth officer, he created software that helped users buy highly sought-after sneakers before they sold out. 

The experience exposed Schwartz to a fragmented internet economy and eventually inspired the idea for a platform where people could sell products, build communities and get paid in one place. 

One of the biggest turning points in Schwartz’s career came during his internship at Accenture in Singapore. As a summer analyst, he worked on programming projects for large businesses across Southeast Asia. Among other things, he helped create chatbots for shipping companies.

Building a billion-dollar company 

In 2021, the same year he graduated from university, Schwartz launched Whop. Over the past five years, it has raised roughly $272 million in funding.

In 2023, Insight Partners led a $17 million Series A funding round that included investments from billionaire entrepreneur Peter Thiel and music duo The Chainsmokers.

The company later secured a Series B round worth more than $50 million led by Bain Capital Ventures. Its biggest funding boost came in February this year, when Tether invested $200 million, valuing the company at $1.6 billion.

Today, Whop says it serves around 22 million users. According to the company, between 50,000 and 60,000 people join the platform every day.

Businesses operating on Whop generate roughly $4 billion in annual commerce across 145 countries. The platform says that translates into around $300 million in monthly sales.

The company also claims that every day, around 10 to 15 users earn their first $20,000 through the platform.