Jim McKelvey

Jim McKelvey was born in 1965 and grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. He studied at Washington University in St. Louis, ran a printing and publishing business where a teenage Jack Dorsey worked, and became a professional glass artist. In 2013 he co-founded LaunchCode, a St. Louis nonprofit that trains people for technology jobs.

McKelvey's lost $2,000 glass sale is Square's origin story. He worked with Dorsey and engineer Tristan O'Tierney on the first reader and the flat-pricing business model, and later wrote 'The Innovation Stack' (2020), which explains how Square survived copycats including Amazon's short-lived card reader. He remains a Block director: shareholders voted on his re-election as a Class II director at the June 16, 2026 annual meeting, for a term running to 2029.

Education: Ladue Horton Watkins High School. Jim McKelvey was born in 1965.