Melanie Perkins Net Worth 2023: Entrepreneur, Canva (Updated)

What Is Melanie Perkins’s Net Worth? (Recent Reports)

Net Worth $7 Billion
BornMay 13, 1987
Age35 Years Old 
BirthplacePerth, Western Australia
OccupationTechnical Entrepreneur
Last Updated2023

Melanie Perkins is a Technical entrepreneur from Australia. She has an astounding net worth of over $7 billion in 2023. 

She is most known as one of the founders of the graphic designing platform Canva.

She is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Canva and is one of Australia’s richest women. She also has another successful business called Fusion Books.

Would you like to know more about her? If yes, keep reading! 

Melanie Perkins Biography/Wikipedia/Wiki

Real NameMelanie Perkins
Known AsMelanie Perkins
Date of Birth May 13, 1987
Age35 Years Old
Gender Female
Horoscope Taurus
NationalityAmerican
EthnicityWhite
ReligionUnknown
Height 5 ft 6 in
Weight 60 kg
Marital StatusMarried
Spouse / BoyfriendCliff Obrecht
ChildrenNone
Net Worth$7 Billion
ProfessionTechnical Entrepreneur

How Was Melanie Perkins’ Early Life And Education?

Melanie Perkins was born on May 13, 1987, in Perth, Australia.

She is the daughter of an Australian-born teacher and a Malaysian engineer of Filipino and Sri Lankan roots. 

She attended Sacred Heart College.

After high school, she joined the University of Western Australia and studied communications, psychology, and commerce.

At this time, Perkins also worked as a private tutor for students learning graphic design. 

She could see the difficulties students had in learning design programs such as Adobe Photoshop, and it would often take students over a semester at college to be introduced to the basic features of some complex design programs.

She saw this as a business opportunity to create something that makes the designing process easier.

Her mind was set on making a design platform where no prior experience or skills are required.

She eventually dropped out of university at 19.

How Did Melanie Perkins Start His Successful Career?

Perkins’ first business was Fusion Books, which she co-founded alongside Cliff Obrecht in 2007, after dropping out of college.

Fusion Books allowed students to design their own school yearbooks by using a simple drag-and-drop setting.

Originally, Perkins wanted to develop software that made the entire design process easier but due to the competition with large companies and her lack of resources, she couldn’t do so.

Perkins’ mother saw how much time was required to design a yearbook and thought that the high level of consumer friction would make yearbooks a good niche to test the idea of Canva.

Over five years, Fusion Books grew to be the largest yearbook company in Australia and expanded into France as well as New Zealand. 

In 2011, experienced investor Bill Tai visited Perth to judge a start-up competition. Perkins and Obrecht pitched Tai the basic idea for Canva.

Initially, they received no funds from Tai but became regular fixtures at meetings hosted by Tai for investors and start-up founders. It was at one of these gatherings in Silicon Valley where Perkins and Obrecht met Lars Rasmussen, the co-founder of Google Maps.

Rasmussen then became their tech adviser, and he was the one who introduced Perkins and Obrecht to tech expert Cameron Adams, who had experience at Google.

Adams was initially uninterested in becoming an investor in the business as he was starting his own business called fluent.io.

Adams was in Silicon Valley trying to gather more funds for his own start-up when Perkins sent him another email, after which he agreed to join Canva, becoming its third founder and also the Chief Product Officer.

She has implemented policies at Canva that eliminate bias in the hiring process, which has been a success with over 41 percent female representation.

Personal Life

Perkins had an interest in kite surfing and that is how she discovered how many prominent venture capitalists use this as a way to network with founders.

She has an avid interest in traveling and has credited a trip to India as a life-changing experience.

In 2019, Obrecht proposed to Perkins during a holiday in Turkey’s Cappadocia region. The couple has been critical of materialism and has expressed a desire to donate most of their wealth to charity. 

Perkins and Obrecht tied the knot in January 2021 on Rottnest Island.

In November 2021, they pledged with The Giving Pledge and committed to giving away at least half of their fortune to philanthropic purposes.

How Does Melanie Perkins Make Money?

The major sources of income through which Perkins makes her money are:

  • Earning from being the CEO and co-founder of Canva
  • Earning from investments

Melanie Perkins Quotes

“Plant lots and lots of seeds and hopefully one will grow!”

Melanie Perkins

“If you are determined and want it, you can just go for it.”

Melanie Perkins

“The rejection is often not because of the reasons you think they are rejecting you.”

Melanie Perkins

“Solve customer problems and make sure that the customer is representative of a large market and then you will have a pretty good formula.”

Melanie Perkins

Melanie Perkins’ Career Highlights

  • Perkins is the Chief Executive Officer of Canva.
  • She is one of the co-founders of Canva.
  • She is one of the two percent of female CEOs of venture-backed companies.
  • She co-founded Fusion Books along with Cliff Obrecht.

Melanie Perkins’ Social Media Handles

Success Lessons From Melanie Perkins’ Life

  • Work hard.
  • Always be open-minded.
  • See your failures as motivation.

Summary

Melanie Perkins is an Australian technical entrepreneur. She is most known as the co-founder of the graphic designing platform Canva.

She is currently its Chief Executive Officer and is one of Australia’s richest women.

I hope you are inspired by her success story.

As per recent updates, the net worth of Melanie Perkins is $7 billion…!

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are some questions that are frequently asked about Perkins, such as her career, family, early life, start-ups, etc…

What Is Melanie Perkins’ Date Of Birth?

Melanie Perkins was born on May 13, 1987, in Australia. She is currently 35 years old.

Where Is Melanie Perkins From? 

Melanie Perkins was born and bred in Perth, which is located in Western Australia. 

Who Is Melanie Perkins Married To?

Melanie Perkins is married to Cliff Obrecht. They met while they were in college, and they launched the business Fusion Books together.

What Was Melanie Perkins’ First Start-up?

Melanie Perkins co-founded the business Fusion Books, which used a simple drop-and-drag technique that enables students to design yearbooks with ease.

Which Venture Capitalist First Backed Up Melanie Perkins’ Startup Canva?

Melanie Perkins was rejected by over 100 investors before she met the experienced investor Bill Tai, who became invested in the idea.

Who Was Melanie Perkins’ Business Partner In Fusion Books? 

Melanie Perkins founded the company Fusion Books, alongside Cliff Obrecht, in 2007. Cliff and Perkins are now married.

P.S. The net worth of Perkins given in the article is not a precise value. It has been gathered from various high-quality sources.

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