The Emperor

Tobias Lutke – The Emperor

It’s all about control when it comes to the Emperor, for this card means authority, regulation, organization and a fatherliness. The Emperor represents a strategic thinker who sets out plans that he must see through. To see him in a reading presents a chance to be successful as long as you pursue your goals similar to the fashion that the Emperor does. A reversed Emperor in a reading is a sign of abused authoritative power. It presents a man who wants to take control and is unwilling to work within the vision and ideas of others.

 Tobias Lutke Facts:

  • In 2004, launched an online snowboard shop with friends.
  • After realizing the software they’d developed to sell snowboards was more valuable than the shop itself, Lutke launched the Shopify e-commerce platform in 2006.
  • Founded and is currently the CEO, chair of the board and majority shareholder of the Canadian tech company Shopify.
  • In 2013, the company began building a point-of-sale system to go along with their e-commerce platform.
  • In 2014, Shopify announced that they had 100,000 retailers from 150 countries signed up.
  • In 2015, word came out that employees were trying to urge the company to cut ties with Shopify store owners that promote white nationalism (like Breitbart) but the company refused, as they claimed to believe in free speech.
  • In 2017, they announced an “Amazon Sales Channel”, that allowed sellers to list their products on Amazon easily.
  • In 2018, in response to criticism of the platform hosting hateful content, Lutke posted a blog on his personal website about his valuing of free speech – a similar message that was peddled by the company in 2015.
  • Many celebrities have stores that use the platform, including Donald Trump, Kylie Jenner, Kanye West and Drake.
  • By 2019, Shopify’s market cap grew to $36.6 billion.
  • In 2020, the company launched a new/better POS and also onboarded Alipay (the payments division of Alibaba Group Holding) to allow American shops to accept payments from users in China.
  • With these developments plus the surge in online shopping during the pandemic, in their 2020 third quarter, ending in September, Shopify saw a total revenue of $767.4 million, a 96% increase from the 2019 third quarter. In their fourth quarter, they doubled year over year to $977.7 million.
  • In January 2021, Shopify took down Donald Trump’s store after the riots in Washington, D.C.. The company said they did not tolerate actions that incite violence.

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