Whop says more than 650 sellers have become millionaires

Whop says more than 650 people using its marketplace have crossed into millionaire status, a claim that highlights the scale of its seller economy. CEO Steven Schwartz told Fortune he wants the $1.6 billion company to help people make money from work they enjoy rather than treat enjoyable work as unusual.

The company describes Whop as a social commerce platform where users sell expertise, content, services and physical goods. According to Fortune, sellers have made seven-figure businesses from areas including coaching programs, skills courses, meal kits and vitamins.

Fortune cited several examples of sellers using the platform. Shelby Haas earns $1 million a month teaching remote sales on Whop, while Troy Adashun became a millionaire selling Alpha Lion Supplements, and podcast host Jay Shetty runs the Jay Shetty Certification School through the platform, according to the report.

Whop competes in a different corner of online selling than broad marketplaces such as Etsy, with many sellers targeting narrower audiences, Fortune reported. The company says it now has about 22 million users, adds 50,000 to 60,000 users a day and supports about $4 billion in annual commerce across 145 countries.

Whop also says businesses on the platform generate $300 million in monthly sales. Each day, about 10 to 15 users make their first $20,000 on Whop, according to the company.

From sneaker bots to a $1.6 billion company

Schwartz, 26, started early. Fortune reported that he grew up moving often because his military parents practiced medicine, living in places including China, Honolulu, Chicago and Springfield, Illinois, where he refereed hockey games. He also sold water on the street in China and worked for a New York City hedge fund before finishing high school, according to Fortune.

At 13, Schwartz began building and selling iOS apps designed to buy sought-after sneakers quickly. He created that business, Sole Sniper, with Cameron Zoub, who later became a Whop cofounder and chief growth officer. The sneaker-buying bots sold for $20 to $500, Fortune reported.

Schwartz later attended New York University’s Stern School of Business and interned at Accenture in Singapore. Fortune reported that he built chatbots for shipping companies while working as a summer analyst, then kept selling similar tools after leaving the firm.

Schwartz founded Whop in 2021 with Zoub and chief technology officer Jack Sharkey, the same year he graduated from college. The company has raised about $272 million, according to Fortune, including a $17 million Series A led by Insight Partners in 2023 with angel backing from Peter Thiel and The Chainsmokers. Bain Capital Ventures led a Series B of more than $50 million, and Tether invested $200 million in February at a $1.6 billion valuation.

Hiring while larger tech firms pull back

Whop is expanding its staff while companies including Meta, Amazon and Microsoft have slowed recruiting, Fortune reported. The company has 120 full-time employees and is hiring for 40 roles in engineering, growth and design. It added 16 employees in May.

Schwartz told Fortune that hiring at that pace makes culture harder to protect. He said Whop looks for candidates who can produce ideas and carry them through, whether in technical work such as engineering or creative work such as writing.

Fortune reported that Schwartz places particular weight on whether applicants have built something impressive. He also considers their energy and whether colleagues would want to spend time with them, according to the report.

This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.