How One Irish Entrepreneur Went From Sheep Farmer To Fintech — And Made A $900 Million Fortune

Terry Clune has started eight fintech companies in three decades to help such clients as Barclays, Wells Fargo and Harvard handle taxes, payroll and marketing in other countries. Having sold just one, he’s already well on his way to becoming a billionaire.

_{By Devin Sean Martin}

In the misty rolling hills of Wicklow, Ireland, Terry Clune founded his first business. He was eight, the son of a farmer, and looking for a way to avoid long, wet days in the field. He began collecting and cleaning discarded fertilizer bags from neighboring farmers and selling them in bundles of 20 for one Irish pound apiece, mostly to wood merchants who would bundle firewood in them.

It wasn’t long before the precocious eight-year-old had the newest BMX bike in his driveway and could afford all the Snickers bars he wanted. But, unfortunately for Clune, the high life was short-lived.