Roblox is a popular multiplayer online game that aims to give children a safe place to be a part of a gaming community.
Roblox is generally the first community experience for many in the game, but this also comes with problems. Even though there are problems, they are still extremely popular.
They recently went public, and their market share has been increasing a lot in the last few years. Let’s see who currently owns Roblox and the ownership of the company.
Who Owns Roblox In 2023?
Roblox was founded by David Baszucki and Erik Cassel, but the company received a lot of investments over the years, changed management, and went through a lot of structural changes. They also did an IPO, and they are now publicly traded.
All this means that David and Erik didn’t keep all the company and had to give away some of their shares.
| Shareholder | Ownership | Share Value ($ billion) |
|---|---|---|
| Altos Ventures | 13.0% | $2.2 |
| David Baszucki | 8.8% | $1.5 |
| Morgan Stanley | 5.9% | $1.0 |
| Vanguard | 5.1% | $0.9 |
| Baillie Gifford | 4.9% | $0.8 |
| Greg Baszucki | 2.1% | $0.4 |
| Other | 60.2% | $10.4 |
As you can see, most financial institutions and venture capital firms own the company. David and Greg Baszucki’s brothers also own a considerable amount of shares in the company.
One thing that is important is that David has the highest voting power due to his super-voting shares.
Here is a breakdown of the voting powers.
| Shareholder | Total Voting Shares (millions) | % Share |
|---|---|---|
| David Baszucki | 1,028 | 65.1% |
| Altos Ventures | 79 | 5.0% |
| Morgan Stanley | 36 | 2.3% |
| Vanguard | 31 | 2.0% |
| Baillie Gifford | 29 | 1.9% |
| Greg Baszucki | 13 | 0.8% |
| Other | 364 | 23.0% |
| Total (# millions) | 1,580 | 100.0% |
Even though David only has 8.8% ownership in the company, he has 65% of the voting shares.
This means that David is still the guy that drives the decision as the CEO of the company and not the institution.
Roblox History
Roblox Corporation was founded in 2004 by David and Gregory Baszucki brothers. Its name was DynaBlocks at first when they were building it.
They changed to Roblox later, in 2005, and they formally released the game in 2006. The company grew exponentially, reaching 163 employees by 2016.
After this, they started to go international and acquire certain companies and technologies to make Roblox a better game.
They raised $150 million in 2020, which valued the company at $4 billion. Later on, they decided to list the company on the US stock exchange via a direct listing.
SEC approved this, and the company officially started trading on the market by March 2021, and this valued the company at $41.9 billion.
Currently, the company has over 2,000 employees and a revenue of $2.23 billion for the year 2022.
The Initial Public Offering (IPO)
Roblox was founded by two people, and they looked to gather investment to find the necessary money to develop the game over time.
Certain venture capital firms have invested in Roblox, giving them the necessary funding during the company’s lifetime.
During this time, they were private, meaning only those with enough money to invest via investment rounds could own Roblox.
However, the company recently decided to go public to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Their shares began trading via a direct listing on March 10, 2021.
At the time, the company was valued at $41.9 billion because of the buy orders of the share.
This meant that now everyone who has access to NYSE can own Roblox by buying their shares.
Even though the majority of stakeholders didn’t change, like Altos Ventures, David Baszucki, Morgan Stanley, and Vanguard, over 50% of the company is mostly owned through the stock exchange.
Who Is David Baszucki?
David Baszucki is one of the co-founders of the Roblox game. He is a Canadian-born engineer, developer, and entrepreneur who is famous for his Roblox creation.
He helped develop the game, and he is currently the CEO of the company, focusing on moving Roblox further.
He was in the middle of some controversies, such as misusing tax breaks and being the seven highest-paid CEO in the world.
He owns shares worth $1.5 billion, which equals 8.8% of the company. However, he has the 65% of the total voting shares in the company.
What Are Altos Ventures?
Altos Ventures is a first-stage venture capital firm. They’ve invested in over 50 companies, and one of those companies is Roblox.
They were founded in 1996 and are headquartered in California, United States. Their typical investment ranges from $1 million to $5 million.
Their Roblox investment is one of their high-profile ones, and they still keep most of their shares. They currently own about 79 million shares, that’s worth around $2.2 billion.
They first invested $2.9 million in Series C back in 2008. They gradually added more and more shares in various investment rounds that eventually reached a high peak point of $7.5 billion.
Conclusion
Roblox is quite a popular online multiplayer game that aims to be educational for little children.
The game was started to get developed in 2004 and was finally released in 2006 under the lead of David Baszucki and Erik Cassel. They quickly grew, hitting millions of players during their time since 2006.
They now have tens of millions of users and are worth billions of dollars collectively as Roblox Corporation.
The biggest shareholder is Altos Ventures, who have been investing in the company since 2008 and collecting shares gradually.
They were a private company until 2021 when they went public. Now, individuals can also own a part of Roblox by buying their stock on the stock exchange.
FAQ
Is Roblox a private company?
No, Roblox recently went public in 2021. This means that Roblox is now a public company that everyone can buy a share of.
Who owns Roblox?
The biggest majority stakeholder in Roblox is Altos Ventures. They have about 13% ownership in the company, with stocks worth $2.2 billion.
The rest of the owners include David Baszucki, Morgan Stanley, Vanguard, and other institutions.
Who founded Roblox?
David Baszucki, the current CEO of the company, and Erik Cassel in 2004. The duo developed the game and released it in 2006.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roblox_Corporation
https://en.help.roblox.com/hc/en-us/articles/203313370-Roblox-Company-Information
https://www.kamilfranek.com/who-owns-roblox-largest-shareholders/?utm_content=cmp-true
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Baszucki
https://golden.com/wiki/Altos_Ventures-JNZXKKX
https://fortune.com/2021/03/11/its-a-pretty-good-week-for-altos-ventures/
Amit Gupta is an experienced expert in digital marketing and co-founder of DrFranchises. With more than 11 years of knowledge in franchise digital marketing, SEO, email marketing, and social media marketing, Amit has helped many brands achieve incredible success online. As a passionate entrepreneur and owner of 7 franchises, he continues to study franchise models, looking at costs, revenue, and profitability to guide brands toward profitable growth. When he’s not working on digital marketing, Amit enjoys spending time playing with his beloved dog.