The tech founder has a net worth of $20 billion as the payments company reaches a record value

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A college dropout who entered the payments industry to fund his surfing lifestyle has become one of Britain’s richest owners after his tech startup was worth $40bn (£29bn).

London-based Checkout.com has overtaken Revolut to become the UK’s most valuable tech startup, securing $1 billion in funding from a series of international investors.

The deal is believed to mean a fortune of close to $20 billion for its Swiss-born founder and CEO, Guillaume Pousaz.

Checkout.com, which handles payments for Netflix, Pizza Hut and Sony as well as other fintech companies like Klarna and Revolut, announced the funding on Tuesday.

Its valuation of $40 billion is more than double what it was worth a year ago, when it last raised the money, and that means it has leapfrogged Revolut as Britain’s most valuable startup.

Mr. Bosaz, 40, dropped out of college in Switzerland and moved to California to surf in 2005 after his father’s death and only got a job at International Payment Consultants after he ran out of money.

He bought a Mauritius-based small payments company and set up Checkout.com in London in 2012, saying he chose the city because the Financial Conduct Authority was receptive to fintech companies.

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