Databricks is one of the world’s most valuable private companies at $134 billion. But who actually owns this data and AI powerhouse?
The answer is complicated. Databricks remains private, which means ownership is split between founders, employees, and more than 120 institutional investors. Unlike public companies, the exact ownership percentages aren’t disclosed.
But we can piece together who holds the biggest stakes based on funding rounds, board positions, and public statements.
The Quick Answer
Databricks ownership breaks down into three main groups:
- Founders still control a substantial portion. Ali Ghodsi (CEO), Matei Zaharia (CTO), and Ion Stoica (Executive Chairman) lead the company and likely hold significant equity. The exact percentages aren’t public, but founders typically retain 10-20% ownership after raising over $20 billion across 14 funding rounds.
- Institutional investors own the largest share. Over 120 venture capital firms and asset managers have invested across 14 funding rounds totaling more than $20 billion in equity. Major holders include Insight Partners, Fidelity, Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive Capital, and strategic investors like Microsoft, Amazon, Google, NVIDIA, and JPMorgan Chase.
- Employees own shares through stock options and RSUs. With over 8,000 employees, this represents a meaningful portion of the company. Databricks has provided liquidity through secondary sales, allowing employees to cash out some holdings.
The Seven Founders of Databricks
Databricks was founded in 2013 by seven computer scientists from UC Berkeley who created Apache Spark:
- Ali Ghodsi – Co-Founder and CEO since 2016
- Ion Stoica – Co-Founder and Executive Chairman
- Matei Zaharia – Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer
- Patrick Wendell – Co-Founder
- Reynold Xin – Co-Founder
- Andy Konwinski – Co-Founder
- Arsalan Tavakoli-Shiraji – Co-Founder
The top three founders remain active in company leadership, which is unusual for a company this mature. Most tech giants see founders exit or move to advisory roles. At Databricks, Ghodsi runs the company, Zaharia leads technical vision, and Stoica chairs the board.
This founding team brings serious academic credentials. They met at UC Berkeley’s AMPLab (now RISELab) while working on distributed systems research. Before Databricks, they created Apache Spark, the open-source data processing framework that became the foundation for the entire company.
How Much Do Founders Own?
The exact ownership percentages aren’t public. But we can estimate based on how dilution works.
Databricks has raised more than $20 billion in equity across 14 funding rounds. That’s massive dilution. Every time the company raises money, founder ownership gets diluted.
A typical founding team starts with 100% ownership. After seed funding, they might own 80-85%. After Series A, that drops to 60-70%. By Series J or Series L, founder ownership typically falls to 10-20% of the company.
The Major Institutional Investors
More than 120 institutional investors own stakes in Databricks. The biggest players have invested across multiple rounds and likely hold board seats.
Lead Investors (Largest Stakes)
Insight Partners co-led the latest Series L round in December 2025 and participated in the February 2026 completion. They’re a growth equity firm focused on software and have been in Databricks since 2021. They likely own 8-12% of the company.
Fidelity Management & Research co-led Series L and has participated since Series G in 2021. As one of the world’s largest asset managers, Fidelity typically takes large positions. They probably own 6-10%.
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) led Databricks’ first major funding round in 2013 with $13.9 million. They’ve participated in multiple rounds since and likely own 5-8%.
Thrive Capital has invested heavily across multiple late-stage rounds. They’re known for concentrated bets on category leaders and probably own 4-7%.
JPMorgan Chase joined in Series J (December 2024) and significantly expanded their investment in February 2026 through their Security and Resiliency Initiative’s Strategic Investment Group. They led the $2 billion debt financing and likely own 3-5% in equity.
Strategic Tech Investors
Several tech giants have invested directly in Databricks, which creates interesting strategic dynamics:
Microsoft first invested in 2019 during Series E, then rejoined in the February 2026 Series L completion. They’ve integrated Databricks deeply with Azure. The partnership gives Microsoft leverage in cloud competition against AWS, even though Amazon also invests in Databricks. Microsoft likely owns 2-4%.
Amazon Web Services invested despite competing with Databricks in cloud services. AWS wants to offer Databricks to its customers, which requires maintaining the relationship. They probably own 1-3%.
Google/CapitalG invested through CapitalG, Alphabet’s growth equity arm. Google Cloud competes with both Microsoft and Amazon, making this a defensive play. They likely own 1-3%.
NVIDIA invested in Series J (December 2024). The AI chip giant wants Databricks customers buying NVIDIA hardware. They probably own 1-2%.
Meta also invested in Series J, though their strategic rationale is less clear. They likely own 1-2%.
Other Major Investors (February 2026 Update)
Goldman Sachs – Joined via Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives in Series L (2-4%)
T. Rowe Price – Large asset manager with multi-round participation (3-5%)
BlackRock – World’s largest asset manager, invested in Series L (2-4%)
Blackstone – Private equity giant, invested in Series L (2-4%)
Coatue – Tech-focused hedge fund with Series J and L participation (2-4%)
Glade Brook Capital – Joined in Series L February 2026 (1-3%)
Morgan Stanley – Joined in Series L February 2026 (1-2%)
Neuberger Berman – Joined in Series L February 2026 (1-2%)
Qatar Investment Authority – Sovereign wealth fund, joined Series L (1-2%)
UBS – Swiss bank joined in Series L February 2026 (1-2%)
NEA (New Enterprise Associates) – Veteran VC firm (2-3%)
Ontario Teachers Pension Plan – Canadian pension fund (1-2%)
Temasek – Singapore sovereign wealth fund (1-2%)
GIC – Another Singapore sovereign fund (1-2%)
The Board of Directors
Databricks doesn’t publicly list its complete board, but we can identify key members based on the company’s leadership structure and investor presence.
Ali Ghodsi – CEO and Co-Founder, definitely on the board
Ion Stoica – Executive Chairman, leads the board
Matei Zaharia – CTO and Co-Founder, likely has a board seat
Beyond the founding team, the board almost certainly includes representatives from:
- Andreessen Horowitz – As the earliest major investor
- Insight Partners – As the lead in Series L
- Fidelity – As a major late-stage investor
- Thrive Capital – As a significant multi-round participant
- JPMorgan Chase – After expanding investment in February 2026
The exact board composition isn’t public, which is normal for private companies. But these investors have enough ownership and strategic importance to demand board representation.
Employee Ownership Through Stock Options
Databricks has over 8,000 employees, many of whom own equity through stock options or restricted stock units (RSUs).
Employee equity typically works like this:
Early employees (2013-2018) got large option grants when Databricks was worth under $1 billion. Those employees are now sitting on tens of millions in paper wealth. A typical early engineer with 0.1% ownership would have $134 million at today’s valuation.
Mid-stage employees (2018-2022) joined when Databricks was valued between $6 billion and $38 billion. Their options are still extremely valuable but less explosive than early employee grants.
Recent employees (2022-2026) receive options at much higher strike prices. The wealth creation is less dramatic but still significant if Databricks IPOs above $134 billion.
Collectively, employees probably own 10-15% of the company. That’s standard for a late-stage private company that’s raised this much capital.
The important thing is that Databricks has provided liquidity opportunities. The company has allowed employees to sell shares in secondary markets during funding rounds, which is uncommon generosity for a private company. This lets employees cash out some wealth without waiting for an IPO.
How Databricks Ownership Has Changed Over Time
Databricks has raised funding consistently since 2013. Each round diluted existing shareholders but brought in strategic investors who added value beyond capital.
Here’s how the ownership structure evolved:
2013 – Seed ($13.9M): Andreessen Horowitz led. Founders owned roughly 80-85% after dilution.
2014-2017 – Series A through D: Multiple rounds brought in NEA, Coatue, and other growth investors. Founder ownership dropped to 50-60%.
2021 – Series G ($1B at $28B): Franklin Templeton led. This was the first mega-round that signaled Databricks was becoming a category leader. Founder ownership probably fell to 30-40%.
2021 – Series H ($1.6B at $38B): Counterpoint Global led just six months after Series G. Founder ownership dropped to 25-35%.
2024 – Series J ($10B at $62B): The largest funding round included Meta, NVIDIA, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google as strategic investors. This fundamentally changed the ownership structure. Founders likely fell to 15-25%.
2025 – Series K ($1B at $100B): Less than eight months after Series J, showing how fast Databricks is growing. Founder ownership probably 12-22%.
2025 – Series L Announced ($4B+ at $134B): In December 2025, Databricks announced raising more than $4 billion. This compressed timeline shows investor demand outpacing company need for capital. Founder ownership likely 10-20%.
2026 – Series L Completed ($5B equity + $2B debt): In February 2026, Databricks completed the Series L with approximately $5 billion in equity financing plus $2 billion in additional debt capacity, for a total of over $7 billion. New investors included JPMorgan Chase (expanded), Goldman Sachs, Glade Brook Capital, Morgan Stanley, Neuberger Berman, Qatar Investment Authority, UBS, and Microsoft rejoined. Current founder ownership probably 10-18%.
Why So Many Funding Rounds?
Series L rounds are extremely rare. Most companies IPO long before reaching Series H or I. So why has Databricks raised 14 private rounds totaling over $20 billion in equity?
The IPO market timing isn’t right yet. Databricks could have gone public in 2022-2023, but market conditions were terrible for tech IPOs. By staying private, they avoided getting valued below their private market price.
Providing employee liquidity matters. Secondary sales during funding rounds let employees cash out stock options without an IPO. This keeps employees happy and reduces pressure to go public.
Building a war chest for competition. Databricks competes with Snowflake, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google. Having billions in the bank lets them invest aggressively in product development without worrying about quarterly earnings. Ghodsi told Reuters the $7 billion capital injection makes the company “really well capitalized, in case there’s a winter coming.”
Delaying dilution from an IPO. When companies go public, they typically sell 10-20% of the company to new shareholders. By raising money privately at increasing valuations, Databricks maintains control over dilution.
When Will Databricks Go Public?
An IPO is coming, but the timing is uncertain.
In 2022, Databricks reportedly told investors they were planning a summer 2023 IPO. That didn’t happen. CEO Ali Ghodsi said in 2023 that weak market conditions delayed the plans.
After raising $10 billion in December 2024 at $62 billion, then $1 billion in August 2025 at $100 billion, then completing another $7 billion (equity + debt) in December 2025-February 2026 at $134 billion, the IPO looks further away than ever.
Ghodsi told CNBC in February 2026 that Databricks will go public “when the time is right.” That’s classic CEO-speak for “we’re in no rush.” He added that by continuing to operate privately, “the company can scale and grow without getting distracted by market fluctuations.”
The company doesn’t need money. They achieved positive free cash flow over the last 12 months. Revenue hit $5.4 billion in Q4 2025/Q1 2026, growing 65% year over year. The business fundamentals easily support a public listing.
What’s holding them back? Probably valuation. At $134 billion private valuation, Databricks would be the largest software IPO ever. But public market multiples for software companies have compressed. Going public at a lower valuation would anger private investors who bought at $134 billion.
What Happens to Ownership at IPO?
When Databricks goes public, the ownership structure changes dramatically.
Founders maintain control through dual-class shares. Databricks will likely implement a dual-class structure where founder shares carry 10 votes per share while public shares carry 1 vote. This lets founders control the company despite owning a minority of total equity. Google, Facebook, and Snowflake all use this structure.
Institutional investors sell some shares. Venture capital firms need to return capital to their limited partners. They’ll likely sell 20-40% of their holdings at IPO, with lockups preventing more sales for 6-12 months.
Employees can finally cash out. After a 6-month lockup period, employees can sell their vested options on the public market. This is when early employees become very wealthy.
New public shareholders enter. The IPO will sell 10-15% of the company to new shareholders, including retail investors who can buy Databricks stock in their brokerage accounts.
After the IPO, expect founder ownership to be around 8-15% (but with voting control through dual-class shares), institutional investors at 60-70%, employees at 8-12%, and public float at 10-15%.
How Databricks Ownership Compares to Competitors
Databricks isn’t the only data company with a complex ownership structure. Here’s how it compares to competitors:
Snowflake (public, $58B market cap as of Feb 2026): Went public in 2020 at $33 billion, the largest software IPO ever at the time. Founders owned about 5% at IPO. Berkshire Hathaway and Salesforce became major investors. Today, founders own less than 3%. Snowflake reported $1.21 billion in revenue for Q3 2025, making Databricks now larger at $5.4 billion annualized.
Palantir (public, $180B market cap): Stayed private for 17 years before going public in 2020. Founders retained massive control through dual-class shares. CEO Alex Karp still controls roughly 10% of votes despite owning less than 2% of economic value.
MongoDB (public, $24B market cap): IPOed in 2017 at $1.6 billion. More traditional ownership structure with founders owning 10-15% at IPO and venture capital firms owning 60-70%.
Databricks is following the Palantir playbook: stay private as long as possible, raise massive amounts at increasing valuations, and maintain founder control through voting shares at IPO.
The Acquisition Alternative
Could Databricks get acquired instead of going public?
It’s possible but unlikely. At $134 billion, only a handful of companies could afford to buy Databricks:
Microsoft is the most logical acquirer. They already partner deeply with Databricks on Azure and rejoined as an investor in February 2026. Microsoft’s market cap is $3 trillion, making a $140-160 billion acquisition feasible. But regulators would scrutinize this heavily given Microsoft’s dominant position in cloud computing.
Amazon could buy Databricks to prevent Microsoft from acquiring them. But AWS competes directly with Databricks’ data platform, making integration complex.
Google has the money but struggles with acquisitions. They’d face regulatory hurdles and internal cultural clashes.
Oracle desperately needs modern data infrastructure. They have the balance sheet to do a $150 billion deal. But Databricks is built on open source, which conflicts with Oracle’s proprietary approach.
Salesforce or SAP could consider Databricks to move upmarket into data infrastructure. Both face challenges competing with cloud giants and need differentiation.
My take: acquisition is unlikely. Databricks founders want to build an independent company. They’ve turned down acquisition approaches before. The IPO path provides more founder control and potentially more wealth creation.
Who Benefits Most from Databricks’ Success?
At $134 billion, everyone who owns Databricks equity is winning. But some stakeholders benefit more than others.
Early employees are the biggest winners. Engineers who joined in 2013-2016 with stock options could have 0.05-0.2% ownership. That’s $67 million to $268 million at today’s valuation. Life-changing wealth.
Founders come next. Even with heavy dilution, owning 2-6% of a $134 billion company makes you a multi-billionaire.
Early-stage VCs like Andreessen Horowitz who invested at $100 million valuations now own assets worth 1,000x+ their original investment. This is exactly what venture capital is supposed to do.
Late-stage investors like Fidelity and JPMorgan are doing fine but not making venture-style returns. Buying at $62-100 billion and marking at $134 billion is a 34-116% return in 6-14 months, which beats the stock market but isn’t the 50x returns that early investors see.
Recent employees are the wild card. Those hired in 2024-2026 received options at $100-134 billion valuations. They need the IPO to value Databricks above $150 billion to see meaningful gains.
Key Financial Metrics (February 2026)
Understanding Databricks’ financial performance helps explain the $134 billion valuation:
Revenue: $5.4 billion annualized run-rate (Q4 2025/Q1 2026)
Growth: 65% year-over-year (accelerating from 55% in Q3)
AI Revenue: $1.4 billion ARR (26% of total revenue, growing faster than core business)
Free Cash Flow: Positive over the last 12 months
Net Retention Rate: Over 140% (sustained)
Gross Margins: Over 80%
Customers: More than 20,000 organizations worldwide
Fortune 500: Over 60% use Databricks
$1M+ Customers: 800+ organizations
$10M+ Customers: 70+ organizations
These metrics justify the premium valuation. Databricks is growing 65% at $5.4 billion scale while generating positive cash flow—a combination almost never seen in enterprise software.
The Bottom Line on Databricks Ownership
Databricks remains one of the world’s most valuable private companies with complex ownership distributed across founders, employees, and over 120 institutional investors.
Founders Ali Ghodsi, Matei Zaharia, and Ion Stoica still lead the company and own significant stakes, likely 10-18% combined worth $13-24 billion. They’ll maintain voting control through dual-class shares at IPO.
Institutional investors led by Insight Partners, Fidelity, Andreessen Horowitz, JPMorgan Chase, and strategic players like Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and NVIDIA own the majority of the company. They’ve invested over $20 billion in equity across 14 funding rounds, with the latest Series L adding approximately $5 billion in February 2026.
Employees own meaningful equity through stock options. Early employees are paper multi-millionaires or billionaires. Recent employees will need a successful IPO above current valuations to see large gains.
The company will likely IPO in late 2026 or 2027 at a valuation between $120 billion and $160 billion, depending on market conditions. With $5.4 billion in revenue growing 65% year-over-year and positive free cash flow, the business fundamentals support a public listing whenever market conditions improve.
Until then, ownership stays private and concentrated among the investors who backed Databricks through its remarkable growth from university research project to AI infrastructure leader generating $5.4 billion annually. Whether you’re an employee, investor, or just watching from the sidelines, Databricks represents one of the most successful private company journeys in tech history. The ownership structure reflects that success: heavily diluted but massively valuable, with founders still in control and everyone holding equity positioned to benefit from an eventual public listing.