The CEO of Shopify likes to go fast.
During an interview on Stripe’s “Cheeky Pint” podcast, published Monday, Tobi Lütke said he enjoys trying out the hobbies of people he admires. He said he started racing cars after visiting the track with friends, for example, and “immediately fell in love” with it.
The German-born entrepreneur has competed in the Rolex 24, a sports car endurance race held at Daytona in January, among other competitions.
Lütke said he was surprised that motor racing stuck with him because he didn’t have a driver’s license for a time, after moving from Germany to Canada. The appeal is not about winning for him.
“I don’t even try to win,” he said. “I’m still competing against myself, and I see all of the other cars as obstacles.”
It’s a hobby that grades you on speed, accuracy, and more to perfect your driving skills and improve each time, Lütke said. He compared lap times to a report card of “all of your inadequacies as a driver.” He said this motivates him to hone his skills and try to outdo himself with each race.
“The immediacy and the adrenaline. It’s just a brilliant thing that I discovered for myself,” Lütke said.
Lütke said he’s taken racing more seriously over the past couple of years and has his sights set on another 24-hour relay race.
He’s not the only tech CEO who’s into racing. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also has an affinity for fast cars on and off the track. Altman likes racing cars and had five, including two McLarens and an old Tesla, two Y Combinator founders said he told them, The New Yorker reported.
Efficiency and speed also seem to be a big deal to Lütke in his professional life. He’s one of many CEOs who are using artificial intelligence to make their businesses more efficient. In an internal memo from April, the Shopify CEO asked managers to prove that AI couldn’t do a better job before they requested to hire someone new.
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“Before asking for more Headcount and resources, teams must demonstrate why they cannot get what they want done using AI,” Lütke wrote in the memo that he posted on X after it was leaked.
Shopify did not provide comment on this story.
Even with a large company to run, Lütke should have time for his hobbies if his philosophy is the same as in 2019.
He previously posted to X, then Twitter, about never working overnight and getting the eight-ish hours of sleep he needs to function. He said he’s home by 5:30 p.m. every evening — plenty of time to hit the track or take up new hobbies.
