Stripe's acquisition of OpenRouter for over $8 billion claims that the private model is more suited for the "singularity era," and the IPO may be delayed

According to Axios, payment giant Stripe stated in a letter to investors that January 1 marks "the beginning of a singularity," viewing it as a significant turning point in a long-term trend, and believes that maintaining a private structure is best suited for this critical moment, with the IPO likely to remain on hold. The company reported a 41% year-on-year revenue growth in the first half of the year and a 43% increase in free cash flow; 88% of the companies in Forbes AI 50 (including OpenAI and Anthropic) are building on its platform, with revenue from AI and crypto companies more than doubling year-on-year.

Stripe also confirmed the acquisition of the AI routing platform OpenRouter, with the transaction amount not publicly disclosed; Axios learned that the amount exceeds $8 billion and is primarily paid in stock. Stripe stated that remaining private helps advance mergers and acquisitions and long-term investments without diluting shareholders, with its equity count now lower than three years ago, and a compound annual return of about 31% since the D round. The company stated that the total payment volume on its platform is expected to reach $1.9 trillion by 2025, a year-on-year growth of 34%; in February this year, the employee stock purchase valuation was approximately $159 billion. There are also reports that Stripe is in discussions with Advent International to acquire PayPal for about $53 billion.