Jim McKelvey built his fortune through a long series of technology and creative ventures, most importantly co-founding Square in 2009 after already starting businesses in digital publishing and glasswork. [1][2]
From engineering and glassblowing to Square
McKelvey studied computer science and economics at Washington University, wrote programming textbooks as a student and worked at IBM after graduation while also teaching glassblowing. He then co-founded Mira Digital Publishing in 1990 and Third Degree Glass Factory in 2000, building businesses well before his best-known payments venture. [1]
In 2009 he co-founded Square with Jack Dorsey. Washington University describes Square as part of a broader pattern of company creation that also includes LaunchCode, Six Thirty and later ventures, while Forbes identifies his Block ownership and share sales as the core of his billionaire-scale wealth. [1][2]
McKelvey benefited from a strong educational environment, including a father who had served as an engineering dean, but the reviewed evidence ties his fortune to companies he personally founded or co-founded rather than to an inherited operating business or family fortune. [1][2]
Block's total public-market value is not McKelvey's personal wealth. His economic outcome comes from the founder stake he retained and shares he later sold, while the rest of the company belongs to other shareholders; the enterprise value therefore cannot be assigned wholesale to a single cofounder. [1][2]
Sources for background
Sources reviewed Sep 15, 2026.
- 2012 Alumni Achievement Award: James McKelvey Jr. · Washington University in St. Louis
- Jim McKelvey · Forbes · Mar 10, 2026
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