Paddle — Net Worth and Career Earnings
Paddle has an estimated $100 million in ARR as of 2026, having carved out a significant position in the software payments infrastructure market through its merchant of record model — a structure where Paddle takes legal responsibility for transactions, including VAT collection and remittance across jurisdictions, on behalf of software companies. This removes the significant compliance burden that comes with selling software globally, making Paddle particularly attractive to smaller SaaS companies and indie developers who lack the tax infrastructure to handle international sales themselves.
Christian Owens founded Paddle at age 17, making him one of tech's youngest successful founders. The company acquired ProfitWell in 2022 — a SaaS subscription analytics platform — adding metric tracking to its payments infrastructure and creating a more complete platform for software businesses. It processes over $2 billion in GMV annually across thousands of software companies globally. Its 5% approximate take rate on GMV creates attractive unit economics at scale. The company is headquartered in London and represents one of the UK's most significant fintech-infrastructure businesses.