Stewart Butterfield
Canadian co-founder of Flickr and Slack
- Age
- 53 yrs
- Birthday in 136 days
- Works listed
- 0
- Career highlights
- Honours
- 0
- Awards & distinctions
- Profile views
- 0
- 0 followers
Stewart Butterfield is a Canadian entrepreneur who co-founded the photo-sharing site Flickr and the workplace messaging app Slack. Both grew out of failed online games. Salesforce bought Slack for $27.7 billion in 2021.
Biography
Background
Butterfield was born Dharma Jeremy Butterfield to hippie parents in British Columbia and spent his early years without electricity or running water. He studied philosophy at the University of Victoria and Cambridge.
Flickr
His company Ludicorp built an online game, Game Neverending, and turned one of its features into Flickr in 2004. Yahoo bought it in 2005.
Slack
His next game, Glitch, closed in 2012, but the team’s internal chat tool became Slack, launched in 2013. It quickly became standard in workplaces.
Sale
Salesforce bought Slack in 2021; Butterfield left in 2022.
Timeline
-
1973
Born in Lund, British Columbia, Canada
-
2004
Flickr launches
-
2005
Yahoo buys Flickr
-
2011
Glitch game launches
-
2013
Slack launches
-
2019
Slack lists on the stock market
-
2021
Salesforce buys Slack
-
2022
Leaves Slack
Did you know?
-
1
Slack stands for “Searchable Log of All Conversation and Knowledge”.
-
2
He changed his first name to Stewart at age 12.
-
3
Both his big successes came from failed games.
Connections
Frequently asked
Who is Stewart Butterfield?
Stewart Butterfield is a Canadian entrepreneur who co-founded the photo-sharing site Flickr and the workplace messaging app Slack. Both grew out of failed online games. Salesforce bought Slack for $27.7 billion in 2021.
How old is Stewart Butterfield?
Stewart Butterfield is 53 years old, born on 21 March 1973 in Lund, British Columbia, Canada.
Where is Stewart Butterfield from?
Stewart Butterfield was born in Lund, British Columbia, Canada.
What is Stewart Butterfield known for?
Stewart Butterfield is best known for Co-founding Flickr (2004) and Slack (2013).
References
- Stewart Butterfield — Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Stewart Butterfield — Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Stewart Butterfield (Q1561837) — structured data. Wikidata. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
Includes material from the Wikipedia article “Stewart Butterfield”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. That text is available under the same licence. Learn more
External links
About this profile
- Researched by the TrackFame editorial team; reviewed by Sanjay Sokal under our editorial policy
- First published 4 November 2026
- Last updated
Cite this page
“Stewart Butterfield.” TrackFame, last updated 4 November 2026. https://trackfame.com/person/stewart-butterfield
Discussion 0
Sign in or create an account to join the discussion.
No comments yet — be the first.
More in Technology
Technology
Sachin Bansal
Co-founder of Flipkart and founder of Navi
Born 1981
Technology
Satya Nadella
Chairman and CEO of Microsoft
Born 1967
Technology
Nandan Nilekani
Infosys co-founder and architect of Aadhaar
Born 1955
Technology
Ritesh Agarwal
Founder of the hotel chain OYO
Technology
Vijay Shekhar Sharma
Founder of the digital payments company Paytm
Born 1978
Technology
Shantanu Narayen
Chairman and CEO of Adobe