Table of Contents
- Qualtrics founders and financing at a glance
- Who is Ryan Smith?
- Who is Jared Smith?
- Who is Scott M. Smith?
- Who is Stuart Orgill?
- Why the founders built Qualtrics
- What Qualtrics does
- What makes the founder thesis distinctive?
- Qualtrics financing and transaction history
- What the latest milestone was intended to change
- Founder and company timeline
- The founders' public thesis
- Strengths, risks and unresolved questions
- Evidence to watch over the next 12 to 18 months
- Frequently asked questions
Ryan Smith, Jared Smith, Scott M. Smith and Stuart Orgill founded Qualtrics, the experience management, research and customer and employee intelligence business now serving customer experience, employee experience, strategy, research, marketing and product teams. Ryan Smith is Co-founder and former Chief Executive Officer; Jared Smith is Co-founder and former operating executive; Scott M. Smith is Co-founder and founding research leader; Stuart Orgill is Co-founder and former early executive.
The latest material financing milestone covered here is $12.5B Silver Lake-led take-private, dated 2023-06-28. The relevant total is Approximately $400M disclosed private funding before the SAP acquisition, labelled as take-private enterprise value, not funding or founder proceeds. It is company-level capital or transaction value—not founder net worth.
Authentic Qualtrics website evidence captured on 21 July 2026.
Qualtrics founders and financing at a glance
| Field | Verified information |
|---|---|
| Founding team | Ryan Smith, Jared Smith, Scott M. Smith and Stuart Orgill |
| Current or documented roles | Ryan Smith: Co-founder and former Chief Executive Officer; Jared Smith: Co-founder and former operating executive; Scott M. Smith: Co-founder and founding research leader; Stuart Orgill: Co-founder and former early executive |
| Company | Qualtrics — qualtrics.com |
| Founded | 2002 |
| Headquarters or operating scope | Provo, Utah and Seattle, Washington, United States |
| Product category | Experience management, research and customer and employee intelligence |
| Primary customer | Customer experience, employee experience, strategy, research, marketing and product teams |
| Latest financing milestone | $12.5B Silver Lake-led take-private, 2023-06-28 |
| Total or transaction value | Approximately $400M disclosed private funding before the SAP acquisition — take-private enterprise value, not funding or founder proceeds |
| Public status | Privately held or part of an acquirer |
| Last verified | 21 July 2026 |
Who is Ryan Smith?
Ryan Smith is Co-founder and former Chief Executive Officer at Qualtrics. Ryan Smith's role should be read in its current context: founder status is permanent, while executive responsibility can change as a company scales, lists publicly or is acquired.
Founder profile: Connect with Ryan Smith on LinkedIn.
Qualtrics co-founders Stuart Orgill, Ryan Smith, Scott M. Smith and Jared Smith, left to right, in BYU Magazine photography.
In the founding team, Ryan Smith contributed to the combination of product judgment, technical execution and go-to-market work behind Qualtrics. The public evidence does not justify claims about private ownership, personal wealth or undisclosed internal responsibilities.
Who is Jared Smith?
Jared Smith is Co-founder and former operating executive at Qualtrics. Jared Smith's role should be read in its current context: founder status is permanent, while executive responsibility can change as a company scales, lists publicly or is acquired.
Founder profile: Connect with Jared Smith on LinkedIn.
Qualtrics co-founders Stuart Orgill, Ryan Smith, Scott M. Smith and Jared Smith, left to right, in BYU Magazine photography.
In the founding team, Jared Smith contributed to the combination of product judgment, technical execution and go-to-market work behind Qualtrics. The public evidence does not justify claims about private ownership, personal wealth or undisclosed internal responsibilities.
Who is Scott M. Smith?
Scott M. Smith is Co-founder and founding research leader at Qualtrics. Scott M. Smith's role should be read in its current context: founder status is permanent, while executive responsibility can change as a company scales, lists publicly or is acquired.
Founder profile: Connect with Scott M. Smith on LinkedIn.
Qualtrics co-founders Stuart Orgill, Ryan Smith, Scott M. Smith and Jared Smith, left to right, in BYU Magazine photography.
In the founding team, Scott M. Smith contributed to the combination of product judgment, technical execution and go-to-market work behind Qualtrics. The public evidence does not justify claims about private ownership, personal wealth or undisclosed internal responsibilities.
Who is Stuart Orgill?
Stuart Orgill is Co-founder and former early executive at Qualtrics. Stuart Orgill's role should be read in its current context: founder status is permanent, while executive responsibility can change as a company scales, lists publicly or is acquired.
Founder profile: Connect with Stuart Orgill on LinkedIn.
Qualtrics co-founders Stuart Orgill, Ryan Smith, Scott M. Smith and Jared Smith, left to right, in BYU Magazine photography.
In the founding team, Stuart Orgill contributed to the combination of product judgment, technical execution and go-to-market work behind Qualtrics. The public evidence does not justify claims about private ownership, personal wealth or undisclosed internal responsibilities.
Why the founders built Qualtrics
The Smith family and Orgill began Qualtrics as a survey and research project in the Smith family basement. They turned academic research workflows into self-service software, then expanded the thesis from surveys into experience management: collecting structured feedback and operational signals across customers, employees, products and brands so organizations can decide and act faster.
This is documented company history plus editorial assessment. It does not establish private motivations beyond what the founders and company have said publicly.
What Qualtrics does
Qualtrics provides customer and employee experience management, strategy and research, contact-center intelligence, digital experience and market-research workflows. Its platform combines surveys and omnichannel signals with analytics, automation and AI-assisted recommendations.
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What makes the founder thesis distinctive?
The CSV names Ryan Smith alone. Qualtrics' own history and BYU's founder account identify four co-founders: Ryan Smith, Jared Smith, Scott M. Smith and Stuart Orgill. SAP acquired Qualtrics for $8B before its planned 2018 IPO; the business returned to public markets in 2021 and was taken private by Silver Lake and CPP Investments for $12.5B in 2023.
Our assessment is that durable differentiation must show up in customer outcomes, workflow adoption, reliable data movement and lower operating cost—not only in feature count or AI branding.
Qualtrics financing and transaction history
| Announcement date | Round or instrument | Amount | Lead or named participants | Reported use | Evidence status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2012 | Series A | $70M | Accel and Sequoia Capital | Scale the research platform | Company-reported |
| September 2014 | Series B | $150M at a reported $1B valuation | Insight Partners, Accel and Sequoia Capital | Enterprise and international growth | Reported |
| April 2017 | Series C | $180M | Accel, Insight Partners and Sequoia Capital | Product and global expansion | Company-reported |
| January 2019 | SAP acquisition | $8B | SAP | Combine experience and operational data | Completed transaction |
| January 2021 | Initial public offering | Public listing | Public market investors | Return Qualtrics to public markets | Completed IPO |
| 28 June 2023 | Take-private acquisition | $12.5B enterprise value / $18.15 per share | Silver Lake and CPP Investments | Operate Qualtrics as a private company | Company-confirmed completion |
| — | Current qualified figure | Approximately $400M disclosed private funding before the SAP acquisition | — | — | take-private enterprise value, not funding or founder proceeds |
The headline uses $12.5B Silver Lake-led take-private because it is the clearest recent milestone in the verified record. Different instruments are not silently combined: acquisition consideration, IPO proceeds, primary funding and secondary liquidity have different meanings.
What the latest milestone was intended to change
Public statements connect the milestone to some combination of product investment, AI capability, geographic expansion, hiring, acquisitions or shareholder liquidity. Those plans are attributed intentions, not proof that each outcome occurred. Evidence should include shipped capabilities, adoption, retention, unit economics and customer results after the transaction.
Founder and company timeline
| Period | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2002 | Ryan, Jared and Scott Smith and Stuart Orgill build Qualtrics in Utah. |
| 2012–2017 | Three large institutional rounds bring disclosed private funding to about $400M. |
| January 2019 | SAP completes its $8B acquisition. |
| January 2021 | Qualtrics begins trading publicly. |
| June 2023 | Silver Lake and CPP Investments complete a $12.5B take-private. |
| 2026 | Jason Maynard becomes CEO while Ryan Smith supports the transition as co-founder. |
The founders' public thesis
Across the available company history, the founders argue that customer data becomes valuable when operating teams can turn it into timely, coordinated action. The exact emphasis differs by company—category creation, accessibility, data ownership, real-time infrastructure or AI-assisted execution—but the test is similar: can a customer make better decisions without adding hidden complexity?
Strengths, risks and unresolved questions
Visible strengths
- A founding thesis attached to a recurring and measurable marketing workflow.
- Product history and financing evidence available from primary sources.
- A platform broad enough to influence data, orchestration and customer communication.
Material risks
- Experience programs can collect sensitive employee, customer and health-adjacent information that requires strict purpose limitation and governance.
- AI-generated recommendations need transparent data provenance and human review.
- The $12.5B transaction value is not venture funding, current valuation or founder wealth.
Questions buyers and researchers should ask
- Which founder roles are current, and which describe historical service?
- How is incremental customer or revenue impact measured against a control?
- What data, consent, model and deliverability controls constrain automated action?
- Which transaction amounts were primary capital, secondary liquidity or acquisition consideration?
- What implementation resources are required before the platform produces reliable value?
Evidence to watch over the next 12 to 18 months
Watch for independently explainable retention and expansion, transparent AI evaluation, successful migrations, product delivery tied to the announced financing purpose and current executive-role disclosures. For public companies, filings provide a stronger operating signal than promotional customer counts alone. For private companies, future financing announcements should identify transaction composition clearly.
Frequently asked questions
Who founded Qualtrics?
Qualtrics was founded by Ryan Smith, Jared Smith, Scott M. Smith and Stuart Orgill.
What does Qualtrics do?
Qualtrics provides experience management, research and customer and employee intelligence capabilities for customer experience, employee experience, strategy, research, marketing and product teams.
What is Qualtrics's latest financing milestone?
The latest milestone verified for this profile is $12.5B Silver Lake-led take-private, dated 2023-06-28.
How much funding has Qualtrics raised?
The qualified figure used here is Approximately $400M disclosed private funding before the SAP acquisition. Its status is take-private enterprise value, not funding or founder proceeds; it should not be interpreted as founder wealth.
What should buyers verify?
Buyers should test data integration, consent controls, measurement, implementation effort, support, exportability and the limits placed on automated or AI-generated actions.
Tolu S.
Associate Director
Evidence-led product reviews and founder profiles for search, marketing, authority, and AI visibility teams.
