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Klarna’s cofounder Sebastian Siemiatkowski worked at Burger King and lived on food stamps before starting the buy-now, pay-later firm. It’s now worth $16 billion after IPO


Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski worked at Burger King and lived on welfare before starting his $16 billion fintech firm.

Seeing no future in fast food, Siemiatkowski took jobs as a dementia caretaker, school teacher, and eventually an internet subscription telemarketer. It was a venture that led them to trying out bartending, (unsuccessfully) working on a Florida cruise ship, and waiting tables at a Swiss ski resort. Two decades later, with now 40 employees turned millionaires, Siemiatkowski’s path from burger flipper to fintech mogul shows that success rarely comes from meticulous planning—it comes from seizing the opportunities life throws your way.

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