Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Andreessen Horowitz is pocketing a huge win in the $7.5 billion GitHub acquisition

The firm returns more than $1 billion in the Microsoft deal.

Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen
Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen
Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen
C Flanigan and Michael Kovac / Getty Images

For all its hype, Andreessen Horowitz has had few mega-exits in its relatively short history in venture capital.

But the buzzy VC firm pocketed over $1 billion when its portfolio company, GitHub, was acquired by Microsoft in a $7.5 billion, all-stock deal, according to a person with knowledge of the figures. Andreessen Horowitz invested $100 million into the software startup in 2012, the single largest check it had ever written.

The firm owned about 13 percent of the company after that deal, according to Pitchbook, and made sure to take its pro rata rights — or right to follow up with more investment at a later date — when Sequoia Capital valued the company at $2 billion in its own deal in 2015. Those were the only two times that the 10-year-old company ever raised money.

That means there are basically just two winners from Microsoft’s purchase. GitHub — bootstrapped without venture capital funding for its first half-decade as a company — raised only about $350 million total before being flipped for $7.5 billion.

Andreeseen Horowitz has had other portfolio companies bought and some have gone public. But while it has taken home big money from investments in companies like Okta, many of its most successful companies are still only successful on paper (Airbnb, Pinterest, Lyft). So after lingering questions about its performance, a big acquisition like GitHub helps cement its place as a top-tier firm.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

More in Technology

Podcasts
Are humanoid robots all hype?Are humanoid robots all hype?
Podcast
Podcasts

AI is making them better — but they’re not going to be doing your chores anytime soon.

By Avishay Artsy and Sean Rameswaram
Future Perfect
The old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemicThe old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemic
Future Perfect

Glycol vapors, explained.

By Shayna Korol
Future Perfect
Elon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wantsElon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wants
Future Perfect

It’s not about who wins. It’s about the dirty laundry you air along the way.

By Sara Herschander
Life
Why banning kids from AI isn’t the answerWhy banning kids from AI isn’t the answer
Life

What kids really need in the age of artificial intelligence.

By Anna North
Culture
Anthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque messAnthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque mess
Culture

“Your AI monster ate all our work. Now you’re trying to pay us off with this piece of garbage that doesn’t work.”

By Constance Grady
Future Perfect
Some deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapySome deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapy
Future Perfect

A medical field that almost died is quietly fixing one disease at a time.

By Bryan Walsh