qualtrics

{{Infobox company

| name = Qualtrics International Inc.

| logo = Qualtrics logo.svg

| logo_size = 200px

| foundation = {{start date and age|2002}}

| founders = {{ubl|Scott M. Smith|Ryan Smith|Jared Smith|Stuart Orgill}}

| location = {{ubl|Provo, Utah and|Seattle, Washington, U.S}}

| key_people = Ryan Smith (Executive Chairman){{cite news|first=Scott|last=Martin|title=Customer research easier in digital era|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/MONEY/usaedition/2012-08-28-Efficient-Small-Business-Ecommerce_CV_U.htm|access-date=20 February 2013|newspaper=USA Today|date=August 27, 2012}}
Zig Serafin (CEO)
Chris Beckstead (President)

| industry = Experience management

| products = Qualtrics XM Platform, Design XM, Customer XM, Employee XM, Product XM, Brand XM, XM Services

| owner = Silver Lake

| revenue = {{Increase}} {{US$|1.46 billion|link=yes}} (2022)

| operating_income = {{increase}} {{US$|-1.05 billion}} (2022)

| net_income = {{decrease}} {{US$|-1.06 billion}} (2022)

| assets = {{decrease}} {{US$|3.39 billion}} (2022)

| equity = {{decrease}} {{US$|1.90 billion}} (2022)

| num_employees = {{circa|5,600}} (December 2022)

| website = {{URL|qualtrics.com}}

| footnotes = {{Cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/0001747748/000162828023005051/xm-20221231.htm |title=Qualtrics 2022 Annual Report (Form 10-K) |publisher=U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission |date=24 February 2023}}{{cite web |title=Qualtrics 2022 Proxy Statement (DEF 14A) |url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1747748/000162828022009335/qualtrics2022proxystatement.htm#i60a38f42a6e74878813f14753c6449a5_19 |publisher=U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission |date=15 April 2022}}

}}

Qualtrics 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.{{cite news|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2012/05/15/qualtrics-taps-accel-sequoia-for-first-ever-vc-round/|title=Qualtrics Taps Accel, Sequoia For First-Ever VC Round|first=Lizette |last=Chapman|work=The Wall Street Journal |date=15 May 2012}}

Qualtrics offers a cloud-based subscription software platform for experience management,{{Cite web|title=Qualtrics XM - Experience Management Software|url=https://www.qualtrics.com/|access-date=2020-12-28|website=Qualtrics|language=en}} which it launched in March 2017.{{Cite web|last=Rogers|first=Bruce|title=Ryan Smith's Qualtrics Capitalizes On The Rise Of The 'Experience Economy'|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucerogers/2017/03/02/ryan-smiths-qualtrics-capitalizes-on-the-rise-of-the-experience-economy/|access-date=2020-12-28|website=Forbes|language=en}} Qualtrics software is used widely in academia to conduct survey research;{{Cite web |title="Qualtrics Dominates Academic Survey Research" |url=https://www.informationweek.com/it-leadership/qualtrics-dominates-academic-survey-research}} however, in 2012 the company began to pivot towards serving enterprise customers.{{Cite news |date=2021-07-01 |title=The Founder of Qualtrics on Reinventing an Already Successful Business |url=https://hbr.org/2021/07/the-founder-of-qualtrics-on-reinventing-an-already-successful-business |access-date=2025-02-08 |work=Harvard Business Review |language=en |issn=0017-8012}}

On November 11, 2018, it was announced that Qualtrics would be acquired by SAP for US$8 billion.{{Cite web|url=https://xodata.com/press-release/|title=XO Data Press Release|access-date=2024-07-22|archive-date=2019-04-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417074716/https://xodata.com/press-release/|url-status=dead}} The acquisition was completed on January 23, 2019.{{Cite web |url=https://news.sap.com/2019/01/sap-completes-qualtrics-acquisition/|title=SAP Completes Qualtrics Acquisition|date=2019-01-23|website=SAP News Center|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-07|archive-date=2022-02-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220219043751/https://news.sap.com/2019/01/sap-completes-qualtrics-acquisition/|url-status=dead}} On July 26, 2020, SAP announced its intent to take Qualtrics public,{{Cite web|date=2020-07-26|title=SAP Announces Intent to Take Qualtrics Public {{!}} Qualtrics IPO {{!}} SAP News|url=https://news.sap.com/2020/07/sap-announces-intent-qualtrics-ipo/|access-date=2020-07-27|website=SAP News Center|language=en-US}} and on January 28, 2021, Qualtrics began trading on the Nasdaq.{{cite web |last1=Bursztynsky |first1=Jessica |last2=Levy |first2=Ari |title=Qualtrics closes up 51% after debut, valuing cloud software vendor at $27.3 billion |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/28/qualtrics-ipo-xm-begins-trading-on-the-nasdaq.html |website=CNBC |access-date=28 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128231038/https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/28/qualtrics-ipo-xm-begins-trading-on-the-nasdaq.html |archive-date=28 January 2021 |language=en |date=28 January 2021 |url-status=live}} 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 that Silver Lake did not already own, including the entirety of SAP’s majority ownership interest.{{cite press release | url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sap-completes-sale-of-its-stake-in-qualtrics-as-silver-lake-and-cpp-investments-complete-qualtrics-acquisition-301864877.html | title=SAP Completes Sale of Its Stake in Qualtrics as Silver Lake and CPP Investments Complete Qualtrics Acquisition }}

History

=Funding and valuation=

In 2012, the company received a $70 million Series A investment from Sequoia Capital and Accel,{{cite web|url=https://www.cbinsights.com/research/venture-capital-peer-rankings/|title=Venture Capital Power Rankings: VCs Rate VCs|date=7 April 2016|website=CB Insights Research|access-date=17 June 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2011/05/25/top-10-vc-firms-investorrank/|title=The Top 10 VC Firms, According To InvestorRank|date=25 May 2011|access-date=17 June 2019}} It was the largest joint investment to date by these two firms.{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2012/05/15/qualtrics-raises-70m-accel-sequoia/|title=Qualtrics Raises $70M From Accel And Sequoia: "The Biggest Software Company You Haven't Heard Of"?|author=Anthony Ha|publisher=AOL|work=TechCrunch|date=15 May 2012 }} 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.{{cite news|url=http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-09-24/how-qualtrics-turned-online-surveys-into-a-1-billion-business|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140925032456/http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-09-24/how-qualtrics-turned-online-surveys-into-a-1-billion-business|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 25, 2014|title=How Qualtrics Turned Online Surveys Into a $1 Billion Business - Businessweek|author=Joshua Brustein|work=Businessweek.com|date=24 September 2014}}

= Filing for IPO =

On October 19, 2018, Qualtrics filed their 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1747748/000162828018012674/qualtricss-1.htm|title=Qualtrics International Inc. Form S-1 Registration Statement Under the Securities Act of 1933|date=October 19, 2018|website=U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission}} 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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mrweb.com/drno/news22721.htm|title=Daily Research News Online no. 22721 - Qualtrics Buys Software Firm Statwing|website=www.mrweb.com|access-date=2016-06-29}}{{Cite web|url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/qualtrics-acquires-y-combinator-funded-120000831.html|title=Qualtrics Acquires Y Combinator-Funded Startup Statwing, Making Data Science Easy for Anyone|website=Yahoo Finance|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625031937/https://finance.yahoo.com/news/qualtrics-acquires-y-combinator-funded-120000831.html|archive-date=25 June 2016}}

In April 2018, the firm acquired Delighted for an undisclosed sum. Delighted had more than 1,500 customers at the time of acquisition.{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2018/04/12/qualtrics-acquires-delighted/#4096aec927a2|title=Qualtrics Inches Closer To IPO By Acquiring The Startup Behind Ratings For Postmates And Uber|website=www.forbes.com|access-date=2018-04-12}}

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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.qualtrics.com/news/qualtrics-completes-acquisition-of-clarabridge|title=Qualtrics Completes Acquisition of Clarabridge|access-date=2021-10-01}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.forrester.com/blogs/qualtricss-1-125b-acquisition-of-clarabridge-upends-the-customer-feedback-management-market|title=Qualtrics' $1.125B Acquisition Of Clarabridge Upends The Customer Feedback Management Market|date=30 July 2021 |access-date=2021-07-30}}

= 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.{{Cite news|url=https://xodata.com/press-release/|title=SAP SE to Acquire Qualtrics International Inc., Sees Experience Management as the Future of Business - XOdata.com|date=2018-11-11|work=XOdata.com|access-date=2018-11-12|language=en-US|archive-date=2019-04-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417074716/https://xodata.com/press-release/|url-status=dead}} 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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/11/sap-is-buying-qualtrics-sources-say.html|title=SAP is acquiring survey software maker Qualtrics for $8 billion|last=Sherman|first=Alex|date=2018-11-11|work=CNBC|access-date=2018-11-12}} The acquisition was formally closed January 23, 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://news.sap.com/2019/01/sap-completes-qualtrics-acquisition/|title=SAP Completes Qualtrics Acquisition|date=2019-01-23|website=SAP News Center|language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-04|archive-date=2022-02-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220219043751/https://news.sap.com/2019/01/sap-completes-qualtrics-acquisition/|url-status=dead}}

= 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.{{Cite web|url=https://news.sap.com/2020/07/sap-announces-intent-qualtrics-ipo/|title=SAP Announces Intent to Take Qualtrics Public | Qualtrics IPO | SAP News|date=July 26, 2020|website=SAP News Center}}{{Cite web|title=SAP decision to spin out Qualtrics 20 months after spending $8B surprises industry watchers|url=https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/28/sap-decision-to-spin-out-qualtrics-20-months-after-spending-8b-surprises-industry-watchers/|access-date=2020-12-04|website=TechCrunch|date=28 July 2020 |language=en-US}} On January 28, 2021, Qualtrics began trading on the Nasdaq at $41.85 per share. After reaching an intraday high a week later above $57, the stock settled into a trading range from approximately $30 to $40 for the remainder of the first half of 2021. As of June, 2022, the stock had fallen as low as $12.71 and generally hovered around $13.25.

On January 11, 2021, technical trade media noted that Brad Anderson, a high level executive of Microsoft, was leaving for Qualtrics.Foley, Mary Jo, [https://www.zdnet.com/home-and-office/work-life/corporate-vice-president-brad-anderson-is-leaving-microsoft-for-qualtrics/ Corporate Vice President Brad Anderson is leaving Microsoft for Qualtrics], Zdnet, January 11, 2021

In May 2022, Qualtrics announced that 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.{{cite journal|date=12 May 2022|url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220512005097/en/Qualtrics-to-go-live-on-Amazon-Web-Services-Cloud-Infrastructure-in-the-UK|title=Qualtrics UK customers will be able to access the Qualtrics XM/OS platform locally via data centre in the AWS London Region|journal=Business Wire|access-date=12 May 2022}}

= 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 $12.5{{nbsp}}billion.{{cite news |last=Gara |first=Antoine |date=13 March 2023 |title=Silver Lake set to take over software company Qualtrics in $12.5bn deal |url=https://www.ft.com/content/fae1f119-2d45-4285-8b9d-0f119937578f |newspaper=Financial Times |url-access=limited}}

= Silver Lake acquisition =

Silver Lake first invested more than $500m in Qualtrics during the company's IPO in 2021.{{cite web | url=https://www.silverlake.com/portfolio/qualtrics/ | title=Qualtrics |website=Silver Lake.com }} In March 2023, it was announced that 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.{{cite web | url=https://www.qualtrics.com/news/qualtrics-to-be-acquired-by-silver-lake-and-cpp-investments-for-12-5-billion/ | title=Qualtrics to be Acquired by Silver Lake and CPP Investments for $12.5 Billion |website=Qualtrics.com }}

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.{{cite press release | url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230627383548/en/Accel-Invests-in-Qualtrics-Alongside-Silver-Lake-and-CPP-Investments | title=Accel Invests in Qualtrics Alongside Silver Lake and CPP Investments | date=28 June 2023 }}

After the acquisition, in October of 2023, the workforce was reduced by 15%.