Jared Smith | $1B+
Get in touch with Jared Smith | Jared Smith, cofounder of Qualtrics, helped build one of the world’s leading experience management platforms, transforming the way companies gather insights and understand customers, employees, and markets. Launching the company with his brother Ryan and their father in a Utah basement, he oversaw product development and technology that powered Qualtrics’ rapid ascent from a bootstrapped startup to a multibillion-dollar enterprise. Following its $8 billion acquisition by SAP, Smith continued as president of Qualtrics, driving global expansion and innovation. Known for his operational discipline and product vision, he remains a key figure in the modern SaaS landscape.
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Jared Smith cofounded the software company Qualtrics in Provo, Utah in 2002 with his brother, Ryan, and father, Scott; Ryan was the CEO, Jared was president.
Three days before its scheduled IPO in January 2019, Qualtrics was acquired by German software firm SAP for $8 billion in cash.
Jared owned about 14% of the company at the time of the sale.
Qualtrics sold a second time in March 2023 to Silver Lake and CPP Investments at $12.5 billion valuation.
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.[1]
Qualtrics offers a cloud-based subscription software platform for experience management,[2] which it launched in March 2017.[3] Qualtrics software is used widely in academia to conduct survey research;[4][5] however, in 2012 the company began to pivot towards serving enterprise customers.[6]
On November 11, 2018, it was announced that Qualtrics would be acquired by SAP for US$8 billion.[7] The acquisition was completed on January 23, 2019.[8] On July 26, 2020, SAP announced its intent to take Qualtrics public,[9] and on January 28, 2021, Qualtrics began trading on the Nasdaq.[10] 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.[11] In October 2025, Qualtrics announced its acquisition of Press Ganey Forsta for $6.75 billion to expand in healthcare experience management.[12] In October 2025, following the departure of CEO Zig Serafin, Jim Whitehurst and Mark Gillett were appointed as interim co-CEOs.[13]
History
Funding and valuation
In 2012, the company received a $70 million Series A investment from Sequoia Capital and Accel,[14][15] It was the largest joint investment to date by these two firms.[16] 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.[17] In April 2017, Qualtrics raised $180 million in a Series C round led by Accel, valuing the company at $2.5 billion.[18]
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.[19] 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.
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.[20][21]
In April 2018, the firm acquired Delighted for an undisclosed sum. Delighted had more than 1,500 customers at the time of acquisition.[22]
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.[23][24]
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.[25] 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.[26] The acquisition was formally closed January 23, 2019.[27]
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.[28][29] On January 28, 2021, Qualtrics began trading on the Nasdaq at $41.85 per share.[10] After reaching an intraday high above $57 in early February 2021, the stock settled into a trading range from approximately $30 to $40 for the remainder of the first half of 2021. By June 2022, the stock had fallen to around $12.50–$13.25. The stock reached a low of $9.65 in November 2022 before recovering, trading around $18 per share until delisting in September 2023 following privatization.[30][31]
On January 11, 2021, technical trade media noted that Brad Anderson, a high level executive of Microsoft, was leaving for Qualtrics.[32]
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.[33]
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 billion.[34]
Silver Lake acquisition
Silver Lake first invested more than $500m in Qualtrics during the company's IPO in 2021.[35] 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.[36]
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.[37]
After the acquisition, in October of 2023, the workforce was reduced by 15%.[38]
In October 2025, Qualtrics announced its agreement to acquire Press Ganey Associates and Forsta for $6.75 billion, aiming to enhance its AI-powered experience management capabilities, particularly in healthcare.
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