The mathematician who posed as a man and became a millionaire with the software company she created

Stephanie Shirley was for many (and for many years) just “Steve”.

With that name she signed hundreds of letters to advance her pioneering software business after no one took her into account with her real pseudonym – which revealed her female gender.

In the 1950s and 1960s she fought against sexism, created jobs exclusively for women and installed such revolutionary ideas as working remotely (or from home).

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And although no one ever believed that she could succeed, the woman – who is now 91 years old – ended up amassing a fortune of almost US$3 billionbecoming the first tycoon in today’s highly profitable technological world and the first independent programmer in the world.

Escape from Nazi Germany

Stephanie Shirley was born as Vera Buchthal in the city of Dortmund, in Germany.

In 1939, when he was only 5 years old, he had to separate from his father, a Jewish judge, and his mother, due to the growing Nazi threat. She and her sister Renate – 9 years old – got on the train “Kindertransport” which transported thousands of Jewish refugee children to the United Kingdom.

“I was holding my sister’s hand, so she, poor thing, had to take care of me and her own problems,” Shirley told the BBC in 2019.

The sisters arrived in the midlands of England (West Midlands) where they were adopted.

Although she maintained contact with her parents, the woman has said she never fully recovered her relationship with them.

This separation and the flight from Germany were two situations that she recognizes defined her but that, instead of paralyzing her, made her stronger.

Stephanie Shirley at the unveiling of a Kindertransport memorial on Harwich Dock, north-east of London. (JOE GIDDENS/PA WIRE/)

Outstanding in mathematics

As a child she stood out for her academic performance, particularly in mathematics.

So much so that she had to be transferred to a Children schoolwhere classes were taught in that subject, so that he could receive an education in line with his talent.

When he finished school, he went to work at the Post Office Research Stationwhich was leading the development and use of computers in the United Kingdom.

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One of the few female employees, Stephanie helped write computer programs, something quite unusual for the time.

To prevent his admirers from being scared, he told them that he worked in a post office, hoping that they would think that he sold stamps and was not a challenge.

It was there that she met the physicist Derek Shirley whom she married. So, she changed her name to Stephanie Shirley.

And although she has claimed that she loved her job at the Post Office, she also acknowledges that sexism brought her down.

“My boss didn’t offer me a promotion because I was a woman,” he told the BBC in 2019.

“I got absolutely fed up with sexism. I learned to stand with my back to the wall so no one could pinch my butt. And I learned to stay out of the way of certain people. Eventually, I had enough and left,” she added.

Stephanie or Steve?

Some time later, in 1962, he decided to start his own computer company, called “Freelance Programmers.”

The plan seemed to be crazy.

Stephanie Shirley is considered the world’s first independent programmer. (Stephanie Shirley/)

First of all, she was a woman. Secondly, she had only US$10. And, thirdly, she did not have an office but only her dining room.

Furthermore, the idea was to sell softwarewhich at that time seemed worthless: what mattered was and always would be the hardwarein the opinion of those in the know.

“They literally laughed at me,” he recalled in conversation with the BBC.

“At that time the software It was given away, so it was a new idea to try to sell it. Then they laughed at me, especially because I was also a woman. But I’m a proud person and I didn’t like that. So I was determined to survive.”

And he certainly survived.

He got to work hard. He wrote hundreds of letters to potential customers trying to convince them that, in order to really take advantage of a computer, it was necessary to develop programs that would tell the machines what to do.

But the industry was hostile and many of his missives were ignored. Until her husband gave her an idea: what would happen if she signed the letters with a man’s name?

It was then that he adopted the alias “Steve Shirley” and, incredibly, his email began to receive responses.

A company for women

From day one he promised that, if possible, the company would only employ women. AND 297 of the first 300 employees They were, in fact, women.

He gave priority to those who had children because, otherwise, they would have difficulty finding work.

It allowed them to work from home to adapt more easily to parenting. This was something completely revolutionary for the 60s.

In the 1960s, the computing world was predominantly dominated by men. (Getty/)

The women wrote programs with pencil and paper, and sent them by mail.

The company grew exponentially until it employed more than 4 thousand women at their peak.

In 1975, after the approval of the UK Sex Discrimination Lawthe company was forced to hire men.

Ironically, a firm designed to combat sexism in the workplace suddenly found itself at risk of violating a regulation that sought just that.

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“This is how it should be,” Shirley said. “A mixed workforce is much more creative.”

By the 1980s the company was already known worldwide, creating the programming of highly valued companies and other emblematic ones such as the black box of the Concorde airplane.

Stephanie Shirley ran Freelance Programmers for 25 years. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1996 with the name of Xansa and was valued at hundreds of billions of dollars.

That year, the woman surprised again with an unusual decision: she gave a portion of her shares to the employees, who ended up owning more than half of the company.

Stephanie Shirley founded her own company, called Freelance Programmers, in 1962. (Getty/)

Since the 2000s, Shirley has dedicated herself to philanthropy.

He has dedicated an important part of his fortune and time to the study of autism because his son Giles, who died at the age of 35 in 1998, suffered from severe autism.

Although the United Kingdom awarded her the noble title of “Dame” in 2000 for her “information technology services,” those closest to her still call her “Steve.”

Source: Elcomercio