Carl Thoma | $1B+
Get in touch with Carl Thoma | Carl D. Thoma is a veteran private-equity pioneer and co-founder/managing partner of Thoma Bravo, one of the world’s largest software-focused buyout firms managing more than $130 billion in assets. A Stanford MBA and Oklahoma State alumnus, he began his career in 1980 with the predecessor firm GTCR and helped invent the “buy and build” consolidation strategy that underpins his longtime success in PE. Alongside art patronage through the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation and ownership of a wine estate, he remains a mentor to rising investors.
A cofounder of private equity firm Thoma Bravo, Carl Thoma is one of the deans of the buyout business.
A graduate of Oklahoma State University and Stanford's business school, Thoma cofounded GTCR in 1980 and then split from the firm in 1998.
Created Thoma Cressey in 1998 and hired a young dealmaker, Orlando Bravo, who would go on to build the firm's software strategy.
Thoma and Bravo split from Cressey in 2008. Since, software-focused Thoma Bravo has posted top returns and has grown to manage more than $137 billion in assets.
Thoma's family foundation is a major patron of the arts and has more recently focused on sponsoring "full ride" scholarships for rural students in the Texas Panhandle.
Carl D. Thoma is a Founder and Managing Partner at Thoma Bravo. Previously, he was a Co-Founder and Managing Director at Golder, Thoma, Cressey, Rauner and its predecessor funds since 1980. Carl began his career at First Chicago Equity Group, where he helped build a leading private equity firm. He is a recognized pioneer of the buy-and-build strategy that is the foundation of Thoma Bravo's strategy today.
Carl and his wife, Marilynn, are passionate about philanthropy and art collecting, which led them to form the Carl and Marilynn Thoma Foundation to support arts and education initiatives through art grants, scholarships, fellowships, and endowments. In 2024, they launched the Thoma Scholars program, which offers full-ride scholarships to under-supported students from Northwest Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandle and Eastern New Mexico.
Carl currently serves on the boards of the McKnight Center for the Performing Arts and New Mexico School for the Arts. He received an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BS in Accounting and Agriculture Economics from Oklahoma State University.
Thoma Bravo, LP is an American private equity and growth capital firm based in Chicago, Illinois.[6] It is known for being particularly active in acquiring enterprise software companies[7] and has over $130 billion in assets under management as of 2023.[8]
Thoma Bravo, LP
Company type Private
Industry Private equity
Predecessors
Golder Thoma & Co.
Golder Thoma Cressey Rauner (GTCR)
Thoma Cressey Equity Partners
Thoma Cressey Bravo
Founded 2008; 17 years ago
Founders
Carl Thoma
Orlando Bravo
Headquarters Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Number of locations5
Key people
Jennifer James (managing director, chief operating officer and Head of Investor Relations & Marketing)[1]
Jerry Nowak (managing director, General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer)[2]
Amy Coleman Redenbaugh (managing director, chief financial officer) [3]
ProductsInvestments, private equity funds, private credit funds
AUM US$160 billion (2024)[4]
Number of employees 212 (2023)[5]
Website thomabravo.com
Thoma Cressey Equity Partners logo in use before 2007 when the firm changed its name
It is the successor to the firm Golder Thoma & Co., which was established in 1980 by Stanley Golder and Carl Thoma. Thoma Bravo is led by managing partners Seth Boro, Orlando Bravo, Scott Crabill, Lee Mitchell, Holden Spaht and Carl Thoma.[9]
The company focuses on the application, infrastructure and cybersecurity software and technology-enabled business service sectors, and uses a "consolidation" or "buy and build" investment strategy.[10][11]
Contents
Investments
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As of July 2023, the company had completed over 440 software deals[12] and as of 2020, oversaw a portfolio of over 70 software companies.[13][14]
Software investments
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Thoma Cressey Equity Partners began investing in the enterprise software sector in 2002 with the acquisition of Prophet 21, a provider of software for durable goods distributors.[15]
In 2014, the company acquired Riverbed Technology for $3.6 billion.[16] Riverbed later filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in December 2021.[17]
In 2019, Thoma Bravo acquired ConnectWise, a complete business automation platform for managed service providers (MSPs) founded by technology entrepreneur Arnie Bellini.[18]
After the purchase of edtech company Instructure in 2020, the purchase was accused of being "rushed" and "riddled by conflicts of interest" by a large shareholder at the time.[19]
In October 2021, Thoma Bravo took enterprise software company Medallia private for $6.4 billion.[20][21]
In September 2021, Thoma Bravo completed the acquisition of Stamps.com, an e-commerce shipping service provider, for approximately $6.6 billion in cash.[22]
In March 2022, Thoma Bravo acquired the enterprise cloud software company Anaplan for $10.7 billion (€9.6bn).[23] The acquisition completed in June 2022 following Thoma Bravo cutting the takeover offer down to $10.4 billion after alleging that the company had violated the acquisition terms by overpaying new hires.[24][25]
In August 2022, the company agreed to buy Nearmap, its first Australian acquisition, for A$1.06 billion (US$730 million).[26] it has done over 300 software deals[27] since 2003 and oversees a portfolio of over 40 software companies.
In December 2022, the company outbid Vista Equity Partners to announce its acquisition of Coupa Software for $6.15 billion in cash, and a total enterprise value of $8 billion.[28][29]
In September 2023, Arlington Capital Partners announced it had bought Exostar, a software company headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, from Thoma Bravo for an undisclosed amount.[30]
In November 2023, the company acquired health-records software company NextGen Healthcare for a total enterprise value of $1.8 billion.[31][32]
In March 2024, the company agreed to take Everbridge, a provider of critical event management software, private for approximately $1.8 billion.[33]
In December 2024, Thoma Bravo completed the acquisition of a majority stake in USU Product Business, an IT management solutions provider. It said it has invested as a new major shareholder and plans to invest additionally in the company to accelerate business growth and product innovation.[34]
In April 2025, Thoma Bravo agreed to purchase portions of Boeing's Digital Aviation Solutions business from its Boeing Global Services division, including its Jeppesen, ForeFlight, AerData and OzRunways assets for $10.55 billion. [35]
In July 2025, the company announced its acquisition of the restaurant software provider Olo in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $2 billion.[36]
Security investments
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In 2018, Thoma Bravo took cloud-first security provider Barracuda Networks private for $1.6 billion. In April 2022, it sold Barracuda to KKR for about $4 billion.[37]
In January 2019, Thoma Bravo acquired Imperva for $2.1 billion.[38] In July 2023, it then sold the company to Thales Group for $3.6 billion.[39]
In March 2020, Thoma Bravo completed its $3.9 billion acquisition of Sophos.[40]
On August 31, 2021, Thoma Bravo completed its $12.3 billion acquisition of Proofpoint.[41]
In 2022, Thoma Bravo made a series of security related investments.[42] In April, it announced the acquisition of identity security company SailPoint for $6.9 billion with financing from private lenders.[43][44] In August, it agreed to buy Ping Identity for $2.8 billion in an all-cash transaction.[45] In October, it agreed to buy ForgeRock for $2.3 billion.[42]
Thoma Bravo acquired Canada-based digital investigation software maker Magnet Forensics for CA$1.8 billion (US$1.34bn) in 2023, and merged it with Grayshift, a digital forensics firm in its existing portfolio that it gained majority control the previous year.[46][47][48]
In April 2024, Thoma Bravo agreed to acquire Darktrace, a UK-based cybersecurity company, in a private transaction valued at $5.3 billion.[49]
Fintech investments
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In May 2022, Thoma Bravo acquired Bottomline Technologies for $2.6 billion.[50]
In June 2023, Thoma Bravo agreed to divest Adenza to Nasdaq, Inc. for $10.5 billion in a cash-and-stock deal. As part of the deal, it would get a 15 percent stake in Nasdaq.[51]
In July 2021, Thoma Bravo acquired clinical payment technology provider, Greenphire LLC.[52][53]
In June 2021, Thoma Bravo invested $125 million into FTX.[54][55] Following the collapse of FTX, in February 2023, Thoma Bravo, Paradigm Operations and Sequoia Capital were sued for allegedly making “materially false and misleading statements" while promoting FTX and "aided and abetted the misconduct that led to the collapse of the FTX Entities.”[56][57] In 2024, Orlando Bravo stated that the firm would cease making further cryptocurrency investments due to the fallout.[4]
History
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Assets under management (USD billions)[19][58][59][60]
In 1980, Stanley Golder and Carl Thoma established Golder Thoma & Co,[61] a company that has been credited as creating the "consolidation" or "buy and build" investment strategy.[62][63] In 1984, Bryan Cressey was recruited to join the firm from First Chicago, and the firm's name was changed to Golder Thoma Cressey. With the promotion of Bruce Rauner to partner, it became Golder, Thoma, Cressey, Rauner, Inc. (GTCR).[64]
In 1998, the firm split into two firms: GTCR Golder Rauner and Thoma Cressey Equity Partners.[65]
In 2008, Thoma Cressey Bravo was renamed Thoma Bravo after Bryan Cressey left the company.[66][67]
The firm closed its 12th fund in September 2016, with $7.6 billion.[68] Thoma Bravo raised $12.6 billion for its 13th fund, which was announced in January 2019.[69] It raised $17.8 billion for its 14th fund which launched in October 2020.[70] In December 2022, it raised $24.3 billion for its 15th fund, which Preqin called the largest tech-focused buyout fund raised by an independent private-equity firm.[6]
In 2017, the firm launched a private credit platform, which focuses on investments in software and technology companies.[71]
The company moved its operations to Miami, Florida, at the end of 2020.[72]
In June 2023, Private Equity International placed Thoma Bravo fourth on the PEI 300 ranking of the largest private equity firms.[73]
In February 2024, Fortune published an analysis of the top ten private equity investors in tech of 2021 by amount invested. Thoma Bravo made the highest number of acquisitions valued at over $58 billion that year, at a time when tech valuations peaked before the market correction in 2022. Two of Thoma Bravo's most recent 14th and 15th funds were among the lowest performing funds in Fortune's list, posting an internal rate of return of 4% and −2% respectively, while the 13th fund saw some big exits and was among the highest on the list with 27%.[74][75]
In June 2024, Thoma Bravo was ranked seventh on Private Equity International's PEI 300 ranking.
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