Intuit Announces Major Acquisition

Intuit is at it again. Last year Intuit acquired Credit Karma for $8.1 billion with $3,4 billion in cash and $4.7 billion in stock and equity. The latest acquisition is for $12 billion dollars - and all but $300 million of that will go straight into the pockets of the two founders. 

The company being acquired? Atlanta-based Mailchimp.

The acquisition combines two companies focused on SMB customers, providing a wide range of tools to "get, engage and retain their customers, run their businesses, optimize cash flow and remain compliant," according to Intuit,

Although many still think of Mailchimp as an email marketing company, their offerings have expanded to include free websites, online stores, online appointment scheduling, digital ads, social media posting, a marketing CRM, and more. This acquisition will allow Intuit and Mailchimp developers to deliver a robust customer growth platform for QuickBooks users.

In addition, Mailchimp brings to the table a large customer base, with reports of 2.4 million monthly active users and an overall 13 million global users across the world. Half the customers are U.S. based.

Mailchimp cofounders Ben Chestnut and Dan Kurzius never sought outside investments. Their bootstrap growth means that they will be well compensated for their 20 year efforts in building their company. The Intuit deal includes $300 million in employee bonuses, leaving $11.7 billion - evenly split between cash and Intuit stock - to be shared by the two cofounders. 

This year, Mailchimp ranked No. 14 on Forbes’ 2021 Cloud 100, just behind Zapier - another company that has bootstrapped their growth.