It’s September in London and Daniel Ricciardo, upbeat after his first Formula One grand prix win in three years, is having lunch with a new acquaintance, Nicholas Molnar. The Afterpay co-founder is on a high, too. He’s sitting across from Ricciardo, who he’s getting to know personally after signing him as the Australian face of his buy now, pay later juggernaut. And it comes just a month after announcing Australia’s biggest-ever deal – the merger of the company he founded seven years ago with Jack Dorsey’s Square for $39 billion.

For Molnar it was a pinch-me moment. “I was so glad to find that Daniel was all I hoped he’d be in person,” he tells The Australian Financial Review Magazine. “I love when you come across great humble human beings, who are Australian, and are illustrating to the world how Australians can stand up to the best on a global stage. Daniel is a perfect example of this.”