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Andrew Paradise
Photo: Andrew Paradise, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons23

Andrew Paradise

American entrepreneur and CEO of Skillz

Andrew Paradise (born 10 April 1982) is an American entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of FIRY (NYSE: FIRY), a technology holding company formerly known as Skillz Inc. FIRY comprises three business units: Skillz, a skill-based mobile gaming platform; RZR (Aarki), an AI-powered performance advertising platform; and Beamable, a backend and live operations platform for game developers.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Andrew Paradise (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Apr 10, 1982.1

About

He previously founded AisleBuyer (sold to Intuit) and Double Picture (sold to MPA Inc.). Also, Andrew Paradise was one of the Top-Earning Game CEOs in 2020.

From Wikipedia’s article on Andrew Paradise, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Companies

Holdings

Stock this person has reported owning, from the forms officers and directors file with the SEC. See the biggest insider stakes.

Shares held

  • Firy Inc. FIRY1,774,374 shares18$20.1M at $11.31Jul 1, 2026

As of each latest filing. The line shows shares held over time.

Recent filings

  • Jul 1, 2026Shares withheld for tax 8,077 shares at $10.18 of Firy Inc.18
  • Jul 1, 2026Exercised options 20,525 shares of Firy Inc.18
  • Jul 1, 2026Shares withheld for tax 9,370 shares at $10.18 of Firy Inc.18
  • Jul 1, 2026Exercised options 23,810 shares of Firy Inc.18
  • Jul 1, 2026Shares withheld for tax 35,642 shares at $10.18 of Firy Inc.18
  • Jul 1, 2026Exercised options 90,576 shares of Firy Inc.18
  • Jun 5, 2026Shares withheld for tax 8,077 shares at $2.59 of Firy Inc.19
  • Jun 5, 2026Exercised options 20,525 shares of Firy Inc.19
  • Jun 5, 2026Shares withheld for tax 112,429 shares at $12.45 of Firy Inc.19
  • Jun 5, 2026Exercised options 285,714 shares of Firy Inc.19
  • Jun 1, 2026Shares withheld for tax 21,364 shares at $2.51 of Firy Inc.20
  • Jun 1, 2026Exercised options 84,559 shares of Firy Inc.20
  • May 19, 2026Shares withheld for tax 5,798 shares at $2.59 of Firy Inc.21
  • May 19, 2026Exercised options 23,810 shares of Firy Inc.21
  • May 19, 2026Shares withheld for tax 22,056 shares at $2.59 of Firy Inc.21
  • May 19, 2026Exercised options 90,576 shares of Firy Inc.21
  • Jan 8, 2026Shares withheld for tax 5,798 shares at $4.41 of Firy Inc.22
  • Jan 8, 2026Exercised options 23,810 shares of Firy Inc.22
  • Jan 8, 2026Shares withheld for tax 22,056 shares at $4.41 of Firy Inc.22
  • Jan 8, 2026Exercised options 90,576 shares of Firy Inc.22
  • Jan 7, 2026Shares withheld for tax 9,370 shares at $8.00 of Firy Inc.22
  • Jan 7, 2026Shares withheld for tax 9,370 shares at $6.82 of Firy Inc.22
  • Jan 7, 2026Shares withheld for tax 9,370 shares at $4.50 of Firy Inc.22
  • Dec 23, 2025Shares withheld for tax 35,642 shares at $4.50 of Firy Inc.22
  • Dec 23, 2025Shares withheld for tax 35,642 shares at $8.00 of Firy Inc.22

Early life and education

  • Date not recordedUniversity of Auckland3
  • Date not recordedUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst3

Paradise has said that he learned to program at age 7 by making edits to a video game's configuration file with a hex editor, later writing his first game in Pascal.

He received a Bachelor of Commerce in Economics from the University of Auckland, New Zealand in 2004 and a BA in English Literature, graduating summa cum laude, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2005.

From Wikipedia’s article on Andrew Paradise (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: businessperson, chief executive officer, entrepreneur.6

Private Equity & Venture Capital

Andrew started his career in private equity working for The Watermill Group, a leveraged buyout shop focused on distribution and manufacturing businesses, based out of the Boston area. There he completed his first acquisitions including Latrobe Steel, a company purchased for $215M enterprise value and later sold for $800M. In 2006, he left Watermill to join Fort Washington Capital Partners, working in venture capital investing.

Double Picture

After spending a few years working for venture capital and private equity firms, Paradise left in 2008 to found his first business, Double Picture, a web 2.0 digital media and advertising company. In 2009, he sold the business to MPA Inc. a publicly traded company.

AisleBuyer

Paradise founded AisleBuyer in 2009. AisleBuyer a virtual shopping assistant which enabled customers to bypass checkout lines by allowing them to pay for purchases directly through their mobile devices. The software allowed shoppers to scan product bar codes, which subsequently enabled them to read details and customer reviews directly from their smartphones. Shoppers could then purchase the products on the spot, choosing between an in-store purchase or home delivery. Paradise sold the company to Intuit for a reported price of $80 to $100 million in April 2012. The technology was later renamed to Intuit GoPayment.

Read more

Skillz

In 2012, Paradise and fellow AisleBuyer veteran Casey Chafkin founded Skillz under the name Lookout Gaming. Skillz provides an SDK for mobile game developers that allows users to compete against each other. As of October 2018, Skillz reported hosting 2 million tournaments every day. Founders Casey Chafkin and Andrew Paradise are working to democratize the industry by bringing out the best in everyone through competition.

In 2017, Paradise earned No. 1 spot on the Inc 5000 list for Skillz. The company became the first gaming entity ever to top the chart.

In December 2020, Skillz became the first publicly traded mobile eSports platform. Paradise owns 22% of the company.

In 2020, Andrew Paradise took the third place at the Top-Earning Game CEOs who made $103,321,052 (or $51,660 per hour).

From Wikipedia’s article on Andrew Paradise (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Personal life

  • CitizenshipUnited States7
  • ResidenceLas Vegas8

Sources

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