# William S. McKiernan

> William S. McKiernan, known as Bill, founded CyberSource, the online payments business acquired by Visa for approximately $2 billion in 2010. He later founded WSM Capital and established The Ireland Funds Business Plan Competition, combining payments investing with support for entrepreneurs across Ireland.

- **Role:** President at WSM Capital, LLC
- **Organizations:** WSM Capital, LLC, CyberSource Corporation, Visa Inc., McAfee Associates, Beyond.com / software.net, The Ireland Funds America, IDEATE Ireland, Boston College, Bellarmine College Preparatory, Harvard Business School
- **Education:** B.S., Boston College, M.B.A., Harvard Business School
- **Known for:** Built CyberSource, acquired by Visa for approximately $2 billion on July 21, 2010., CyberSource processed $120 billion in 2009 and served approximately 295,000 merchants at the 2010 acquisition announcement., Recognized by the Irish Technology Leadership Group in March 2010.

## Career timeline

- **1990-1992** — Vice president at Princeton Venture Research.
- **1992-1994** — President and COO at McAfee Associates, including its October 1992 IPO.
- **1994** — Founded the business whose software.net commerce infrastructure became CyberSource; co-founded the online software reseller later known as Beyond.com.
- **1997** — CyberSource’s SEC biography dates the separate company’s inception to December 1997.
- **1999** — CyberSource became publicly traded.
- **2007** — CyberSource acquired Authorize.Net.
- **2008** — CyberSource opened a development center in Belfast with Invest Northern Ireland.
- **2010** — Executive chairman at the time of Visa’s acquisition; joined Visa as an executive adviser.
- **2012** — Founded WSM Capital and established The Ireland Funds Business Plan Competition.
- **2022** — Appeared at IDEATE Ireland’s open evening to discuss entrepreneurial lessons.

## Achievements

- Built CyberSource, acquired by Visa for approximately $2 billion on July 21, 2010.
- CyberSource processed $120 billion in 2009 and served approximately 295,000 merchants at the 2010 acquisition announcement.
- Recognized by the Irish Technology Leadership Group in March 2010.
- Established The Ireland Funds Business Plan Competition in 2012.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — Listed with Betsy McKiernan on the event committee for The Ireland Funds Nantucket Celebration held July 30, 2026.
- **2026-03** — Bill and Betsy McKiernan were listed among table sponsors of The Ireland Funds San Francisco Gala.

## Links

- Website: http://www.wsmcapital.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billmckiernan

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/william-mckiernan
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-08