Who Owns Substack?
Updated onExplore the ownership hierarchy of Substack. See parent companies, holding structures, and ultimate controllers.
Ownership Chain
Substack
Simple publishing and newsletter platform focused on direct-to-reader subscriptions and paid newsletters.
Starts at $0
Substack appears to be independent with no known parent company.
Substack
Simple publishing and newsletter platform focused on direct-to-reader subscriptions and paid newsletters.
Starts at $0
Substack appears to be independent with no known parent company.
Major Shareholders
Substack
Major Shareholders
| Name | Type | Ownership | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
Chris Best Co‑founder and CEO of Substack Inc.; identified as an executive officer and director in SEC exempt offering filings and company profiles, and therefore presumed to hold a significant founder equity stake, though exact percentage is not publicly disclosed. | Founder | — | Apr 2023 |
Hamish McKenzie Co‑founder of Substack; listed as a director in SEC Form D and described as a co‑founder in multiple company profiles, indicating a meaningful founder equity position, but no precise ownership percentage is published. | Founder | — | Apr 2023 |
Jairaj Sethi Technical co‑founder (often described as CTO) of Substack; named alongside Chris Best and Hamish McKenzie as a founder in third‑party company profiles, implying a significant founder shareholding, though exact ownership is not disclosed. | Founder | — | Apr 2023 |
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) Venture capital firm that led Substack’s Series A and 2021 Series B rounds and then participated again in the $100M Series C in July 2025; Andrew Chen of a16z has been publicly associated with the investment and board role, and multiple funding databases list a16z across several rounds, making it one of Substack’s largest institutional shareholders. Exact stake size is not publicly reported. | Institutional | — | Jul 2025 |
The Chernin Group (TCG) Media‑focused investment firm that first backed Substack in an early seed round and later co‑led the $100M Series C in 2025 alongside BOND, according to funding databases and press reports; widely regarded as a major institutional owner, although no precise equity percentage is disclosed. | Institutional | — | Jul 2025 |
BOND (Bond Capital) Growth‑stage venture firm that co‑led Substack’s $100M Series C round in July 2025, which valued the company at roughly $1.1B and added BOND partner Mood Rowghani to Substack’s board; this role in the largest round to date indicates a substantial but undisclosed ownership stake. | Institutional | — | Jul 2025 |
Y Combinator Startup accelerator that provided Substack’s first outside capital via a 2018 seed investment and is repeatedly listed among the company’s institutional investors in later profiles; it therefore continues to hold an early‑stage equity stake, but public sources do not specify the exact percentage. | Institutional | — | Dec 2025 |
Substack I, a series of Wefunder SPV, LLC Special‑purpose vehicle used for Substack’s 2023 Regulation CF “community round” on Wefunder; named as a co‑issuer in the Form C filing and holding preferred shares on behalf of thousands of crowdfunding investors who together invested roughly $5–8M at a $585M valuation, implying a small (well under 5%) but direct minority stake in Substack Inc. Exact ownership percentage is not publicly broken out. | Institutional | — | Apr 2023 |
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