Qualtrics

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Experience management company

title: "Qualtrics" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["american-companies-established-in-2002", "software-companies-based-in-utah", "companies-based-in-provo,-utah", "companies-formerly-listed-on-the-nasdaq", "polling-companies", "software-companies-established-in-2002", "statistical-survey-software", "web-applications", "cloud-computing-providers", "cloud-applications", "service-oriented-(business-computing)", "market-research-companies-of-the-united-states", "market-research", "2002-establishments-in-utah", "software-companies-based-in-seattle", "2019-mergers-and-acquisitions", "sap-se-acquisitions", "american-subsidiaries-of-foreign-companies", "software-companies-of-the-united-states", "2021-initial-public-offerings", "2023-mergers-and-acquisitions"] description: "Experience management company" topic_path: "technology/web" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qualtrics" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Experience management company ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

FieldValue
nameQualtrics, LLC
logoQualtrics logo.svg
logo_size200px
typePrivate
foundation
founders
location
key_peopleRyan Smith (Executive Chairman)
co-CEO Jim Whitehurst
co-CEO Mark Gillett
Zig Serafin (vice chairman)
industryExperience management
productsQualtrics XM Platform, XM for Customer Experience, XM for Employee Experience, XM for Strategy & Research, Qualtrics Edge
ownerSilver Lake
revenue(2022)
operating_income(2022)
net_income(2022)
assets(2022)
equity(2022)
num_employees(December 2022)
website
footnotes
::

| name = Qualtrics, LLC | logo = Qualtrics logo.svg | logo_size = 200px | type = Private | foundation = | founders = | location = | key_people = Ryan Smith (Executive Chairman) co-CEO Jim Whitehurst co-CEO Mark Gillett Zig Serafin (vice chairman) | industry = Experience management | products = Qualtrics XM Platform, XM for Customer Experience, XM for Employee Experience, XM for Strategy & Research, Qualtrics Edge | owner = Silver Lake | revenue = (2022) | operating_income = (2022) | net_income = (2022) | assets = (2022) | equity = (2022) | num_employees = (December 2022) | website = | footnotes =

Qualtrics, LLC is an American experience management company, with co-headquarters in Seattle, Washington, and Provo, Utah, in the United States. The company was founded in 2002 by Scott M. Smith, Ryan Smith, Jared Smith, and Stuart Orgill.

Qualtrics offers a cloud-based subscription software platform for experience management, which it launched in March 2017. Qualtrics software is used widely in academia to conduct survey research; however, in 2012 the company began to pivot towards serving enterprise customers. As of 2025, the company is focused on data collection and the use of agentic AI.

On November 11, 2018, it was announced that Qualtrics would be acquired by SAP for US$8 billion. The acquisition was completed on January 23, 2019. On January 28, 2021, Qualtrics went public and began trading on the Nasdaq. In March 2023, an investor group led by the private equity firm Silver Lake agreed to take Qualtrics private. On June 28, 2023, it was announced that Silver Lake and its co-investors, together with CPP Investments, acquired 100% of the outstanding shares in Qualtrics.

History

Qualtrics was founded by Scott M. Smith, Ryan Smith, Jared Smith, and Stuart Orgill in Provo, Utah in 2002.

Funding and valuation

In 2012, the company received a $70 million Series A investment from Sequoia Capital and Accel, It was the largest joint investment to date by these two firms. In September 2014, the two firms returned to Series B funding, led by Insight Partners worth $150 million, a record for a Utah-based company, and valuing the company at $1 billion.

Filing for IPO

On October 19, 2018, Qualtrics filed its S-1 registration statement with the intention of raising gross proceeds of $200 million through an initial public offering (IPO) of its Class B shares. At the time, the company listed 9,000 global customers. The company was meant to be listed on the NASDAQ exchange under the ticker "XM" in reference to their flagship experience management product, the Qualtrics XM Platform.

Plans for the IPO were scrapped when it was announced in November 2018 that Qualtrics would be acquired by SAP (NYSE: SAP).

Acquisitions

In May 2016, Qualtrics acquired statistical analysis startup Statwing for an undisclosed sum. Statwing was a San Francisco-based company that created point-and-click software for advanced statistical analysis.

In April 2018, the firm acquired Delighted for an undisclosed sum. Delighted had more than 1,500 customers at the time of acquisition.

In October 2021, the firm acquired Clarabridge in an all-stock deal for $1.125 billion. Clarabridge was a Virginia-based company that created software for omnichannel conversational analytics.

In October 2025, Qualtrics announced the acquisition of Indiana-based healthcare-focused technology company, Press Ganey, for $6.75 billion, including debt, making it the company's largest acquisition yet.

Acquisition by SAP SE

In November 2018, SAP announced its intent to acquire Qualtrics. SAP acquired all outstanding shares of Qualtrics for US$8 billion in an all cash deal. SAP secured €7 billion in financing. At the time it was announced, the Qualtrics acquisition was SAP's second-biggest purchase ever, behind the $8.3 billion acquisition of travel and expense management firm Concur in 2014. The acquisition was formally closed January 23, 2019.

Initial public offering (IPO)

On 26 July 2020, SAP announced its intent to take Qualtrics public through an IPO in the United States. According to SAP, the decision to go public was made due to Qualtrics's performance since the acquisition, with 2019 cloud growth in excess of 40 percent. SAP's stated intent was to remain the majority shareholder. While acknowledging that the spinoff made financial sense due to market conditions, Patrick Moorhead, founder and principal analyst at Moor Insight & Strategy, felt there was also a corporate culture clash. In his view, SAP couldn't find a way to co-exist with the younger, more nimble Qualtrics. On January 28, 2021, Qualtrics began trading on the Nasdaq at $41.85 per share.

In January 2021, Brad Anderson, a high level executive of Microsoft, joined Qualtrics as president of products and services.

In May 2022, Qualtrics announced they would go live on Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud infrastructure in London in the second half of 2022. Qualtrics customers would be able to access Qualtrics XM/OS platform locally via AWS London region. Furthermore, Qualtrics announced that they would be opening a London office and customer experience centre.

Divestment by SAP SE

In March 2023, a group of investors including private equity firm Silver Lake, CPP Investment Board, and co-founder Ryan Smith agreed to buy Qualtrics from SAP in an all-cash deal worth $12.5billion.

Silver Lake acquisition

Silver Lake first invested more than $500m in Qualtrics during the company's IPO in 2021. In March 2023, Silver Lake agreed to take Qualtrics private. In June 2023, the Qualtrics acquisition by Silver Lake was completed. At the time of the close, the Qualtrics deal was the single largest investment in Silver Lake's near quarter-century history.

In connection with the close, Accel, a global venture capital firm, as well as BDT & MSD Partners, a merchant bank built to serve the distinct needs of business owners and strategic, long-term investors; and DFO Management, the family investment office of Michael Dell, joined Silver Lake in investing in Qualtrics. Accel, which was one of Qualtrics's earliest investors, invested $500 million. BDT & MSD Partners and DFO Management each made a co-investment of $250 million, for an aggregate commitment of $500 million.

References

References

  1. Martin, Scott. (August 27, 2012). "Customer research easier in digital era". USA Today.
  2. Brady, Diane. (9 September 2025). "Zig Serafin: The optimism around AI is contagious and not just hype". Fortune.
  3. (24 February 2023). "Qualtrics 2022 Annual Report (Form 10-K)". [[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]].
  4. (15 April 2022). "Qualtrics 2022 Proxy Statement (DEF 14A)". [[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]].
  5. Chapman, Lizette. (15 May 2012). "Qualtrics Taps Accel, Sequoia For First-Ever VC Round". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
  6. "Qualtrics Founders: Brothers Who Stick Together & Build a Million Dollar Business".
  7. Rogers, Bruce. "Ryan Smith's Qualtrics Capitalizes On The Rise Of The 'Experience Economy'".
  8. David F Carr. (24 July 2013). ""Qualtrics Dominates Academic Survey Research"".
  9. (2024-05-11). "Designing a Data-Driven Survey System: Leveraging Participants' Online Data to Personalize Surveys". ACM.
  10. (2021-07-01). "The Founder of Qualtrics on Reinventing an Already Successful Business". Harvard Business Review.
  11. Knight, Rebecca. "Qualtrics' president of product has a vision for agentic AI in the workplace: 'We're going to operate in a multiagent world'".
  12. (2025-04-03). "Qualtrics Product Chief, Brad Anderson - 'The good old fashioned survey' is a smart place to start with agentic AI".
  13. Shu, Catherine. (2018-11-12). "SAP agrees to buy Qualtrics for $8B in cash, just before the survey software company's IPO".
  14. (2019-01-23). "SAP Completes Qualtrics Acquisition".
  15. (28 January 2021). "Qualtrics closes up 51% after debut, valuing cloud software vendor at $27.3 billion".
  16. (2023-06-30). "Silver Lake completes $12.5bn Qualtrics acquisition".
  17. Feinauer, Courtney M.. "’Trics of the Trade".
  18. (7 April 2016). "Venture Capital Power Rankings: VCs Rate VCs".
  19. (25 May 2011). "The Top 10 VC Firms, According To InvestorRank".
  20. Anthony Ha. (15 May 2012). "Qualtrics Raises $70M From Accel And Sequoia: "The Biggest Software Company You Haven't Heard Of"?". AOL.
  21. Joshua Brustein. (24 September 2014). "How Qualtrics Turned Online Surveys Into a $1 Billion Business - Businessweek". Businessweek.com.
  22. (October 19, 2018). "Qualtrics International Inc. Form S-1 Registration Statement Under the Securities Act of 1933".
  23. "Daily Research News Online no. 22721 - Qualtrics Buys Software Firm Statwing".
  24. "Qualtrics Inches Closer To IPO By Acquiring The Startup Behind Ratings For Postmates And Uber".
  25. (30 July 2021). "Qualtrics' $1.125B Acquisition Of Clarabridge Upends The Customer Feedback Management Market".
  26. (October 5, 2025). "Software group Qualtrics to buy health-tech company Press Ganey Forsta for $6.7bn". Financial Times.
  27. Soper, Taylor. (2025-10-07). "Qualtrics to acquire healthcare data giant Press Ganey Forsta in $6.75B deal".
  28. (2018-11-11). "SAP SE to Acquire Qualtrics International Inc., Sees Experience Management as the Future of Business - XOdata.com". XOdata.com.
  29. Sherman, Alex. (2018-11-11). "SAP is acquiring survey software maker Qualtrics for $8 billion". CNBC.
  30. (2019-01-23). "SAP Completes Qualtrics Acquisition".
  31. "Qualtrics Acquisition: Two Essential Actions Customers Should Take".
  32. (July 26, 2020). "SAP Announces Intent to Take Qualtrics Public | Qualtrics IPO | SAP News".
  33. (28 July 2020). "SAP decision to spin out Qualtrics 20 months after spending $8B surprises industry watchers".
  34. "Corporate Vice President Brad Anderson is leaving Microsoft for Qualtrics".
  35. Kuhlman, Cara. (2021-01-22). "Tech Moves: Microsoft's Brad Anderson jumps to Qualtrics in wave of pre-IPO hires; Elena Donio joins Databricks board; Hiya, Esper add startup vets".
  36. (12 May 2022). "Qualtrics UK customers will be able to access the Qualtrics XM/OS platform locally via data centre in the AWS London Region". Business Wire.
  37. Gara, Antoine. (13 March 2023). "Silver Lake set to take over software company Qualtrics in $12.5bn deal". [[Financial Times]].
  38. Capoot, Ashley. (2023-03-13). "Silver Lake and CPP Investments to acquire Qualtrics for $12.5 billion".
  39. "Qualtrics".
  40. "Qualtrics acquired by Silver Lake for $12.5bn".
  41. (28 June 2023). "Accel Invests in Qualtrics Alongside Silver Lake and CPP Investments".

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american-companies-established-in-2002software-companies-based-in-utahcompanies-based-in-provo,-utahcompanies-formerly-listed-on-the-nasdaqpolling-companiessoftware-companies-established-in-2002statistical-survey-softwareweb-applicationscloud-computing-providerscloud-applicationsservice-oriented-(business-computing)market-research-companies-of-the-united-statesmarket-research2002-establishments-in-utahsoftware-companies-based-in-seattle2019-mergers-and-acquisitionssap-se-acquisitionsamerican-subsidiaries-of-foreign-companiessoftware-companies-of-the-united-states2021-initial-public-offerings2023-mergers-and-acquisitions