who owns ancestry com

image
Image Credit: ChazzCreations – City of Alachua Alachua has had families …

When Was Ancestry.com Founded?

  • Ancestry was founded in 1983 in Utah by John Sittner, Robert Shaw, and Rex Sittner. The company published genealogy books.
  • John Sittner registered the Ancestry.com domain in 1995.
  • The website and company name was purchased in 1997 by Infobases, a company owned by Paul B. Allen and Dan Taggart. …
The Blackstone Group

Full
Answer

Is Ancestry com owned by the Mormon Church?

Aug 09, 2021 · March 14, 2022. The current owner of Ancestry.com is the Blackstone Group. This company purchased a majority stake in Ancestry back in August of 2020 for a staggering $4.7 billion. Originally founded in New York in 1985, Blackstone is an equity investment company …

Who owns ancestry DNA company?

Feb 07, 2022 · February 7, 2022. Ancestry has been around for quite a while – since 1983, in fact – but it has changed in format and ownership several times along the way. Today, Ancestry is owned by Blackstone, a leading equity investment company based in New York. Read on to …

Who does Blackstone Group own?

Who Owns Ancestry.Com? If Ancestry isn’t owned by the Mormon Church, then who owns it? The Blackstone Group purchased a majority stake in Ancestry.com for $4.7 billion in August 2020. …

Who owns ancestry DNA?

Aug 05, 2020 · Blackstone Group Inc. acquired a majority stake in Ancestry.com Inc., the business known for family history research and DNA testing.

image
Image Credit: The Maybee Society – Person Page

Is ancestry com owned by the Mormon Church?

Is Ancestry Owned by the Mormon Church? No, Ancestry is not owned or operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly known as the LDS or Mormon church) and never has been.Feb 7, 2022

Why did Blackstone buy Ancestry?

Blackstone says she and others needn’t worry. “We invested in Ancestry because it is a clear leader in its industry with a digital subscription business that has continued to grow significantly,” said Matt Anderson, a spokesman for the investment firm with more than $600 billion in assets under management.Apr 13, 2021

Who owns and runs ancestry com?

The current owner of Ancestry.com is the Blackstone Group. This company purchased a majority stake in Ancestry back in August of 2020 for a staggering $4.7 billion.

Who bought out Ancestry?

Blackstone
Why it matters: Private equity firm Blackstone announced in August it was acquiring a majority stake in direct-to-consumer genetics company Ancestry from its former equity holders for $4.7 billion.

Why was Ancestry discontinued?

To do this, we wanted to deepen our focus on family history, including AncestryDNA®, which remains an important part of our commitment to family history. As we carefully considered how to maximize the impact we hope to make, we made the difficult decision in the winter of 2020 to discontinue AncestryHealth®.Apr 15, 2022

Who owns Blackstone Ancestry?

New York, August 5, 2020 – Blackstone (NYSE:BX) today announced that private equity funds managed by Blackstone (“Blackstone”) have reached a definitive agreement to acquire Ancestry® from Silver Lake, GIC, Spectrum Equity, Permira, and other equity holders for a total enterprise value of $4.7 billion.Aug 5, 2020

What religion runs Ancestry?

FamilySearch calls itself the largest genealogy organization in the world. It is an arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Salt Lake City-based church whose beliefs are centered around extended families joined together through ceremonies in its temples.Sep 6, 2013

What companies does the Mormon Church own?

The Mormon Global Business Empire
  • Holy Holdings. …
  • Agriculture. …
  • Deseret Ranch. …
  • City Creek Center. …
  • Real Estate. …
  • Hawaii Reserves. …
  • Insurance. …
  • Media.
Jul 12, 2012

Where does Ancestry get their information?

Ancestry collects records from various sources, usually from official record sources, including newspapers, as well as birth, death, and marriage records, which may contain Personal Information relating to you. Public and historical records may also contain Personal Information relating to non-Ancestry users.Aug 3, 2021

Does Ancestry own your DNA?

In particular, you may worry that once you take a DNA test, you no longer own your data. AncestryDNA does not claim ownership rights in the DNA that is submitted for testing. You own your DNA. For more information, read over the Privacy Philosophy on Ancestry®.
image
Image Credit: The Maybee Society – Person Page

Who bought Ancestry.com?

In October 2012, Ancestry.com agreed to be acquired by a private equity group consisting of Permira Advisers LLP, members of Ancestry.com’s management team, including CEO Tim Sullivan and CFO Howard Hochhauser, and Spectrum Equi ty, for $32 per share or around $1.6 billion.

Is Ancestry.com publicly traded?

Ancestry.com became a publicly traded company on NASDAQ (symbol: ACOM) on November 5, 2009, with an initial public offering of 7.4 million shares priced at $13.50 per share, underwritten by Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Jefferies & Company, Piper Jaffray, and BMO Capital Markets.

Where is Ancestry located?

Ancestry.com LLC is a privately held online company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites.

image
Image Credit: ChazzCreations – City of Alachua Alachua has had families …

Who founded Infobases?

In 1990, Paul Brent Allen and Dan Taggart, two Brigham Young University graduates, founded Infobases and began offering Latter-day Saints (LDS) publications on floppy disks. In 1988, Allen had worked at Folio Corporation, founded by his brother Curt and his brother-in-law Brad Pelo .

Where is Ancestry’s headquarters?

In September 2012, Ancestry.com expanded its international operations with the opening of its European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. The Dublin office includes a new call centre for international customers, as well as product, marketing, and engineering teams.

How much did Blackstone buy Ancestry?

In August 2020, The Blackstone Group announced plans to acquire Ancestry for $4.7 billion. In February 2021, Ancestry announced Deb Liu, a former Facebook executive, as their CEO effective March 1.

image
Image Credit: Portland's first black firefighter lacks a memorial …

What is Ancestry DNA?

AncestryDNA is a subsidiary of Ancestry LLC. AncestryDNA offers a direct-to-consumer genealogical DNA test. Consumers provide a sample of their DNA to the company for analysis. AncestryDNA then uses DNA sequences to infer family relationships with other Ancestry DNA users and to provide what it calls an “ethnicity estimate”. This “ethnicity estimate” uses 700,000 markers which is only about .02% of all genetic markers that could be tested. Customers should not believe they are seeing all of their ethnic background, but taking multiple tests is useful when combined with using ancestry.com’s genealogy web searches to find possible unexpected admixtures. Previously, Ancestry.com also offered paternal Y-chromosome DNA and maternal mitochondrial DNA tests, but those were discontinued in June 2014. The company describes the technical process of testing in a scientific white paper. In July 2020, the company claimed that their database contained 18 million completed DNA kits bought by customers.

Who owns Ancestry.com?

The Blackstone Group purchased a majority stake in Ancestry.com for $4.7 billion in August 2020. Blackstone is an equity investment company founded in 1985 in New York that manages assets valued at over $530 billion. The company’s investments include real estate, pension funds, and media companies.

When did Ancestry go public?

Ancestry went public in 2009 in a $100 million IPO. In 2012, Ancestry went private with a $1.6 billion equity buyout led by Premira, a London-based private equity firm. That was the year Ancestry opened its European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. I used to work around the corner from the glass-fronted building.

image
Image Credit: ChazzCreations – City of Alachua Alachua has had families …

Is FamilySearch a nonprofit?

Like Ancestry, it’s a global online genealogy service, with a base in Provo, Utah. Unlike Ancestry, it’s a nonprofit organization providing all services for free. The website FamilySearch.org was launched in 1999, so Ancestry.com beat them to the punch.

Who owns Ancestry.com?

Blackstone Group Inc. acquired a majority stake in Ancestry.com Inc., the business known for family history research and DNA testing. The deal is valued at $4.7 billion, Blackstone said in a statement Wednesday. It’s the first acquisition by Blackstone’s largest ever private equity fund.

When did Ancestry go public?

Ancestry.com first went public in 2009, raising $100 million. It was taken private in 2012 in a $1.6 billion buyout led by private equity firm Permira, and on at least two occasions since has considered going public again, though it never got the valuation it was seeking.

image
Image Credit: The Keough Corner: Remembering My Grandmother ~ Dora …

Who owns Bumble dating app?

Blackstone also owns a majority stake in MagicLab, the owner of dating app Bumble. Deal talks regarding Ancestry.com started a few months ago, when much of the world was still at home and looking for things to do, said the people with knowledge of discussions.

How much does Blackstone invest in?

It has spent more than $1 billion this year investing in drugs that target high cholesterol, kidney disease in children and devices for diabetes patients.

Who bought Ancestry.com?

Blackstone is buying Ancestry.com from private equity firms Silver Lake, Spectrum Equity and Permira. Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, another Ancestry.com investor, said it will continue to maintain a significant minority stake in the company.

image
Image Credit: The Maybee Society – Person Page

What is Ancestry.com?

Ancestry.com is the world’s largest provider of DNA services, allowing customers to trace their genealogy and identify genetic health risks with tests sent to their home. Blackstone is hoping that more consumers staying at home amid the COVID-19 pandemic will turn to Ancestry.com for its services.

Who owns Ancestry.com?

Blackstone Group Acquires Majority Interest in Ancestry.com. Posted on August 5, 2020. by Roberta Estes. Today, Bloomberg announced that Blackstone Group has acquired a majority ownership stake in Ancestry.com for 4.7 billion dollars. Yes, billion, with a b.

How much does Blackstone invest in?

It has spent more than $1 billion this year investing in drugs that target high cholesterol, kidney disease in children and devices for diabetes patients.

image
Image Credit: Ancestry.com Acquired by Private Equity Group for $1.6 …

Is Ancestry a private company?

Ancestry is a privately held company. In April 2016 GIC Private Ltd. (a sovereign wealth fund owned by the Government of Singapore) and Silver Lake (a private equity fund manager) bought equity stakes in the company. The estimated market value of the company in 2017 was reported to be more than $3 billion. 574 views.

Do Mormons do genealogy?

Note, however, that most genealogists are not Mormons, most Mormons don’t do genealogy, and if you went to a family history library inside a Mormon church 80% of the people you’d meet there would not be Mormons.

How long is the free trial for Ancestry?

The first three sites all offer 14-day free trials so you can be sure you’ve picked the best site before you have to pay a thing. Many public libraries offer free library editions of Ancestry, MyHeritage, and Findmypast, allowing you to access most or all of each site’s records.

image
Image Credit: ChazzCreations – City of Alachua Alachua has had families …

Which is the leader in genealogical DNA?

Of the big four, Ancestry is the definite leader in genealogical DNA. Close to five million users have had their DNA tested and uploaded to the Ancestry site, and linked to their family trees.

What is the number one go-to site for records in the UK?

Findmypast is the number one go-to site for records in the UK. It includes many unique historical records that you won’t find elsewhere, some of them dating back to the 1500s.

What is FindMyPast?

Findmypast is the number one go-to site for records in the UK. It includes many unique historical records that you won’t find elsewhere, some of them dating back to the 1500s. In addition to extensive birth, marriage, and death records, Findmypast houses a large collection of parish, census, and electoral records.

Who Are The Founders of Ancestry?

  • Ancestry came out of the desire of two Brigham Young University students to digitize LDS publications to make it easier for people to access. Paul Allen and Dan Taggart founded their first company, Infobases, which stored LDS information on floppy disks in collections that could be purchased. Initially, these two students and their wives compiled, labeled, and distributed these …

See more on namecensus.com

What Is The History of Ancestry?

  • Although the company was founded as a way to compile a database of information on genealogy and other family histories, it soon launched into much more. Two years after purchasing the Ancestry Publishing company, MyFamily.com was launched. MyFamily was just the beginning of the genealogy database for this company. The business quickly grew into bringing in millions of …

See more on namecensus.com

Who Owns Ancestry?

  • Since its humble beginnings, the company has grown and changed ownership many times moving from the two founders to major equity companies. From partial ownership to majority ownership and many others in between, Ancestry has continued to thrive. Spectrum Equity purchased 30% ownership in the company in 2007 and just two years later they went publi…

See more on namecensus.com

What Is The Connection to The Morman Church and Ancestry?

  • Although many people have believed over the years that Ancestry was either owned or connected to the Morman Church, this is not true. This belief came from the knowledge that the founders were connected to LDS. It is important to remember that while Paul Allen and Dan Taggart founded the company on the heels of their first company, Infobases, which compiled LDS data, t…

See more on namecensus.com

Final Thoughts

  • Companies like Ancestry.com have made it a possibility for individuals to find their family history and even trace it back many generations. Along with the database and the ability to trace their genealogy through DNA, Ancestry has become one of the leaders in genealogy research. Before companies like Ancestry came along, many people had to rely on family records and perhaps ev…

See more on namecensus.com

Link to Or Reference This Page

  • We spent a lot of time downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site. If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

See more on namecensus.com

Overview

Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites.
As of November 2018, the company claimed to provide access to approximately 10 billion historical records, to have 3 million paying subscribers, and to have s…

History

In 1990, Paul Brent Allen and Dan Taggart, two Brigham Young University graduates, founded Infobases and began offering Latter-day Saints (LDS) publications on floppy disks. In 1988, Allen had worked at Folio Corporation, founded by his brother Curt and his brother-in-law Brad Pelo.
Infobases’ first products were floppy disks and compact diskssold from the bac…

Controversies

After authorities arrested the Golden State Killer and used GEDmatch to solve the case, Ancestry.com and 23andMe made a data policy stating that they would not allow their DNA profiles to be used for crime solving without a valid legal process such as a search warrant, as they believe it violates users’ privacy.
In at least one case, Ancestry.com was used to help identify the remains of a crime victim.

See also

• 23andMe
• Genographic Project
• iArchives, Inc.

Further reading

• de Groot, Jerome (2020). “Ancestry.com and the Evolving Nature of Historical Information Companies”. The Public Historian. 42 (1): 8–28. doi:10.1525/tph.2020.42.1.8. S2CID 166746075.

External links

Leave a Comment