Profiles · Principals
- Type
- Person
- Role
- Executive
- Updated
The profile
Co-founder and CEO of Faire, a wholesale marketplace for independent retailers; an advocacy signatory whose company was not a PPP lender or processor.
Identity and role
Max Rhodes is co-founder and chief executive of Faire, a business-to-business online wholesale marketplace that connects independent brands with small retailers. He founded it in 2017 with fellow Square alumni Marcelo Cortes, Daniele Perito and Jeff Kolovson (Y Combinator and CNBC). He signed the March 24, 2020 OnDeck-published "Letter to Congress" on behalf of Faire.
Biography
Before Faire, Rhodes worked at Square, including on Square Capital and the Cash product, and had imported and sold a consumer product to U.S. retailers (Y Combinator and CNBC). Faire's model lets retailers discover products online and order on net terms with returns. Its peak private valuation is cited to press reports.
Pandemic relief role
Faire was an advocacy signatory only. It was not a PPP participant and originated no relief loans. The letter asked Congress to let online and non-bank financial firms move "upwards of $500 billion" to small businesses and stated, "We seek no gain from this crisis." Faire's stake in the issue was its customer base: the independent retailers and brands on its platform.
We found no corporate borrower row for Faire or Faire Wholesale in an exact-name search of the SBA 2024-09-30 PPP FOIA files.
Legal status / government-program record
No PPP enforcement action, relief-program settlement, borrower record, lender record, or processor role involving Rhodes or Faire was identified.
Where they are now (2025–2026)
On November 17, 2025 Faire announced an employee tender offer led by WCM Investment Management at a $5.2 billion valuation (Faire newsroom). Rhodes remains CEO and has said the company has the metrics to go public but is not rushing an IPO (CNBC).
Documents on this site
Original source documents and archived copies
- SBA PPP FOIA loan-level data,
public_150k_plus_240930.csvandpublic_up_to_150k_*_240930.csv - CNBC, "Faire CEO: Growing too fast nearly sank company" Mar. 19, 2026
- Faire newsroom, "A Milestone for Faire" Nov. 17, 2025
- Faire newsroom, "Faire Announces Tender Offer" Nov. 17, 2025
- OnDeck letter to Congress Mar. 24, 2020 (archived text)
- Y Combinator, "Learnings of a CEO: Max Rhodes, Faire"
Related profiles
- Alex Kinnier — fellow signatory CEO.
- Marwan Forzley — fellow payments/commerce signatory.
Sources
- Faire newsroom, "Faire Announces Tender Offer" (Nov. 17, 2025): Faire Announces Tender Offer Led by WCM Investment Management (original: faire.com · stored capture)
- Faire newsroom, "A Milestone for Faire" (Nov. 17, 2025): A Milestone for Faire, Our Retailers and Brands, and Employees — Corporate, November 17, 2025, By Max Rhodes (original: faire.com · stored capture)
- Faire, "Building together in 2025: A message from Faire CEO, Max Rhodes": Faire, "Building together in 2025: A message from Faire CEO, Max Rhodes" (original: faire.com)
- OnDeck letter to Congress (Mar. 24, 2020): OnDeck letter to Congress Mar. 24, 2020 (original: ondeck.com) Fintech Coalition Letter to Congress (March 24, 2020)
- Y Combinator, "Learnings of a CEO: Max Rhodes, Faire": Learnings of a CEO: Max Rhodes, Faire (July 20, 2022, by Lindsay Amos) (original: ycombinator.com · stored capture)
- CNBC, "Faire CEO: Growing too fast nearly sank company" (Mar. 19, 2026): Faire Co-Founder and CEO Max Rhodes (How I Made It, Founder Effect) (original: cnbc.com · stored capture)
- SBA PPP FOIA loan-level data,
public_150k_plus_240930.csvandpublic_up_to_150k_*_240930.csv: SBA PPP FOIA loan-level data (original: data.sba.gov · stored capture) (link now dead; copy taken from the Internet Archive, 5 March 2025) - LinkedIn, Max Rhodes profile (self-reported): LinkedIn, Max Rhodes profile (original: linkedin.com)