- Works listed
- 0
- Career highlights
- Honours
- 0
- Awards & distinctions
- Profile views
- 3
- 0 followers
Tobias Lütke is a German-Canadian programmer who co-founded Shopify in Ottawa in 2006 after building an online store for snowboards. Shopify’s e-commerce platform now powers millions of merchants. He is also a racing driver.
Biography
Background
Lütke left school at 16 in Germany for a computer-programming apprenticeship. He moved to Canada in 2002.
Snowdevil
Wanting to sell snowboards online with Scott Lake, he found existing software poor and wrote his own using Ruby on Rails, becoming a core contributor to Rails.
Shopify
The software became Shopify, launched in 2006, letting anyone open an online store. It went public in 2015 and became one of Canada’s most valuable companies.
Racing and AI
He races in sports-car championships, including IMSA in 2025. In 2025 his memo requiring staff to show why AI could not do a job before hiring attracted wide attention.
Timeline
-
2002
Moves to Canada
-
2004
Starts Snowdevil
-
2006
Shopify launches
-
2015
Shopify IPO
-
2025
AI memo; races in IMSA
Did you know?
-
1
He never finished high school.
-
2
He was on the Ruby on Rails core team.
-
3
He has said Shopify is “arming the rebels” against Amazon.
Connections
Frequently asked
Who is Tobias Lütke?
Tobias Lütke is a German-Canadian programmer who co-founded Shopify in Ottawa in 2006 after building an online store for snowboards. Shopify’s e-commerce platform now powers millions of merchants. He is also a racing driver.
Where is Tobias Lütke from?
Tobias Lütke was born in Koblenz, West Germany.
What is Tobias Lütke known for?
Tobias Lütke is best known for Co-founding Shopify (2006); Ruby on Rails core team; racing driver.
References
- Tobias Lütke — Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Official website. tobi.lutke.com. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Tobias Lütke (Q20684647) — structured data. Wikidata. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
Includes material from the Wikipedia article “Tobias Lütke”, 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
“Tobias Lütke.” TrackFame, last updated 5 November 2026. https://trackfame.com/person/tobias-lutke
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