Artificial Intelligence · Profile from AI Research Companion
Shutterstock
The New York stock-media marketplace, founded in 2003 by Jon Oringer, that pays contributors royalties to license photos, video and music to businesses — and that, from 2022, became the AI industry's best-known seller of licensed training data. It partnered with OpenAI on DALL-E image generation (October 2022), signed a six-year data deal with OpenAI (July 2023) and licensed content to Meta, Alphabet Google, Amazon, Apple, Nvidia, Synthesia and others, reporting ~$104m of AI-licensing revenue in 2023 (reported). Its strategy assumes that generative AI shrinks demand for stock content while creating a market for the archive that trained it. In January 2025 it agreed to merge with Getty Images, but Getty terminated the deal on 7 July 2026 after the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) required the sale of Shutterstock's editorial business. Shutterstock then took a ~$173.7m goodwill impairment and reported Q2 2026 revenue down 17% (reported).
At a glance
- Founded
- 2003, New York, by Jon Oringer, a programmer and amateur photographer
- Headquarters
- New York (Empire State Building); offices in Europe, Asia and Australia (company)
- Ownership / structure
- Public on the NYSE (ticker SSTK) since October 2012; Oringer remains a large shareholder and was executive chairman (verify current role)
- Leadership (2026)
- Rik Powell (CFO and interim CEO from July 2026, company 8-K); Paul Hennessy (CEO 2022–July 2026, resigned after the Getty termination, adviser to 7 August 2026); Jon Oringer (founder)
- AI products
- AI image generator built with OpenAI's DALL-E (launched January 2023); generative-AI tools across the editor and Envato; licensed training datasets of images, video, music, 3D and metadata ("Data, Distribution and Services" segment); 3D generation with Nvidia's Edify (2024, reported); indemnified AI output for enterprise customers (2023, company)
- Scale
- Revenue ~$875m (2023, reported, verify), ~$935m (2024, implied), ~$989.9m (2025, +6%); Data, Distribution and Services ~21% of 2025 revenue, +16% (company, reported; revenue less reported content implies ~20.5%, ~$203m); AI-licensing revenue ~$104m (2023, reported); Q2 2026 revenue ~$221.8m (−17%)
- Capital / acquisitions
- IPO October 2012 at $17 (reported); Giphy from Meta for ~$53m (May 2023); Envato ~$245m (2024, reported, verify); agreed Getty Images merger ~$3.7bn combined enterprise value (January 2025), terminated July 2026
- Key partnerships
- OpenAI (DALL-E integration 2022; six-year data licence July 2023); Meta, Google, Amazon, Apple and Reka (data licences, 2023–24, reported); Nvidia (Picasso/Edify 3D and image models, 2023–24); Databricks (ImageAI model, 2024, reported, verify); Synthesia (footage licence, 2025)
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- The contributor marketplace and IPO (2003–12); the DALL-E partnership and the Contributor Fund (2022); the OpenAI six-year data licence (2023); Giphy from Meta (2023); the Big Tech data deals (2023–24); Envato (2024); the Synthesia footage licence (2025); the Getty merger and its collapse (2025–26, failure); the post-merger impairment and reset (2026, failure)
9 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2012
Contributor Marketplace and IPO
Founding / IPO
2022
DALL E Partnership and Contributor Fund
Partnership / launch
2023
Big Tech Data Deals and the Data Segment
Licensing deals (training data) / partnerships
2023
Giphy Purchase from Meta
Acquisition
2023
OpenAI Six Year Data Licence
Licensing deal (training data) / partnership
2024
Envato Acquisition
Acquisition
2025
Getty Images Merger and Its Collapse
Merger (failure) / regulatory action
2025
Synthesia Footage Licence and Video Training Data
Licensing deal (training data)
2026
Post Merger Impairment and Strategic Reset
Restructuring (failure) / write-down