Shopify CEO survives car crash

But the risk remains of another crash with a more serious outcome

Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke has taken up car racing in recent years and is now zooming around the tracks in a bright green racing car with a Shopify shopping bag painted on the hood. But this is no stock racing car; it resembles more those Formula 1 cars.

Then it happened: Lütke went to the Sebring International Raceway in Florida and on March 15, he crashed going too fast around a bend. Here is the video.

Fortunately, a wall of tires brought the car to a stop without any injury to Lütke. Later, he philosophically tweeted: “Ah well. Around Shopify we call this sort of thing the successful discovery of something that didn’t work.”

I’m not sure it’s the same kind of thing. Making a mistake at 250 km/hr can end up being a lot more than a lesson learned, if a severe or fatal injury occurs.

If I recall correctly, when Shopify IPOed in 2015, there was a clause in the documents about the CEO refraining from risky pastimes. When one has had as much success as Lütke, it seems these things get overlooked.

Why is it that wealthy, successful executives go off on these diversions, anyway? I remember thinking that when BlackBerry co-CEO James Balsillie was looking to buy sports teams, his company’s future was becoming more questionable.

Then again, could Lütke be the exception? Perhaps, but then again, there is more at stake here. It goes beyond a diversion of focus since Lütke can get badly injured in a crash.

A former Shopify director told me during my research for The Shopify Story book, that Lütke’s wife, Fiona, had been like a “rock” for Lütke when Shopify was starting up and growing. I’d bet she also wasn’t too thrilled about the crash on March 15; maybe she can get her husband refocused less dangerous things?

There would seem to be a real risk to this high speed car racing. One of the other drivers on the Shopify team, David Heinemeier Hansson (creator of the Ruby on Rails language behind Shopify), had a close call too. Back in February, he lost control of the car when it hit a bump. “That could have ended very badly!” he posted. “Thankfully all that needed changing was a pair of underwear and the right front corner.”

A photo was taken of the Shopify drivers standing on a stage together at Sebring this month, suited up in their sleek racing uniforms. Miss America was standing nearby. Just a guess here, but I would not be surprised Fiona wasn’t too thrilled about that either.