Airwallex Co-Founder Jack Zhang recently revealed the story behind his decision to reject a $1.2 billion acquisition offer from Stripe in 2020. At the time, Airwallex had around $2 million in annualized revenue, but Zhang was convinced that the company's long-term potential far exceeded its current valuation. Zhang had spent years building Airwallex into a global financial infrastructure platform with over 90 licenses across 50 markets, and he was determined to see it through.
Airwallex has since grown rapidly, reaching more than $1.3 billion in annualized revenue and processing approaching $300 billion in transaction volume. The company's unique approach to building its own global money movement network has allowed it to bypass correspondent banking systems and offer a range of financial services to businesses operating globally.
Zhang attributes Airwallex's success to its focus on building infrastructure rather than just riding someone else's stack. By controlling the end-to-end payment workflow, Airwallex can provide a more seamless experience for customers and extend new products cleanly on top of its own stack. The company is now expanding into the US market and competing directly with Stripe, which has historically dominated international payments.
Airwallex's valuation has been assigned at around $8 billion, roughly a twentieth of Stripe's valuation. However, Zhang argues that Airwallex's revenue gap with Stripe is closing faster than its valuation gap would suggest. With an ambitious goal to reach $20 billion in annual revenue by 2030 and a million customers, Zhang remains focused on building out the company's product suite and expanding its global presence.
