Who owns Wayfair? (all you must know)
Wayfair is one of the largest online home furnishing retailers in the United States, with 16,000 employees and 12 million square feet of warehouse space in North America and Europe. It was founded in 2002 by two Cornell graduates and has expanded rapidly in the years since.
However, as the company grows in popularity, you may naturally wonder: Who is running this Wayfair? Well, I have the answer you are looking for, so read on to find out more!
Who owns Wayfair in 2022?
Wayfair is in the hands of its major shareholders Niraj Shah and Steve Conine, who are the company’s co-founders and co-chairs, as well as shareholders including Fidelity Management, Baillie Gifford & Co. and Morgan Stanley. Shah also serves as CEO of Wayfair and will lead the nine-member board with Conine in 2022.
To find out more about who Wayfair’s major shareholders are, how many shares Wayfair Nirah Shah owns, whether Wayfair is already owned by Amazon, and even how much Wayfair’s CEO earns annually, go ahead!
Who are Wayfair’s major shareholders?
It’s hard to say who Wayfair’s major shareholders are, but there are some top stakeholders to investigate.
According to CNN Business, Wayfair’s top 10 owners (in order of holdings) include:
- Fidelity Management & Research
- Baillie Gifford & Co.
- Morgan Stanley Investment Management
- Pioneer Group of Companies
- Barres Capital Management
- Prescott Investments
- Vulcan Value Partners LLC
- Capital Research and Management Corporation
- Spruce House Investment Management
- Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb LP
Fidelity Management is the largest stakeholder with a 14.82% stake in the company, with more than 11.7 million shares worth more than $700 million.
Next is Baillie Gifford & Co., with an 11.57% stake in the company, with 9.2 million shares worth more than $546 million.
Morgan Stanley followed with a 9.63% stake in Wayfair and 7.6 million shares worth more than $455 million.
Finally, the Vanguard Group owns 8.03% of the company, with 6.3 million shares currently valued at over $379 million.
However, these VCs aren’t the only ones with major stakes in Wayfair.
In fact, in 2020, Wayfair sales have reportedly surged as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on and many Americans spend at home every day.
The surge propelled co-founders and board co-chairs Niraj Shah and Steve Conine back to billionaire status.
Forbes reports that both Shah and Conine own “approximately 11.6 million shares,” which puts them under Fidelity Management’s stake.
However, both Shah and Conine have since sold some of their shares, including on December 1, 2021, when they both sold thousands of shares.
How many Wayfairs does Niraj Shah own?
Forbes calculated that Niraj Shah owned about 11.6 million shares of Wayfair in the spring of 2020.
Since then, however, he has been selling shares, most recently in December 2021, when he sold 40,000 shares worth more than $10 million.
Also, as further support, he has sold about 120,000 shares since April 2020, for a total of 160,000 shares since the Forbes article was written.
Overall, that would put him at 115,000, or 11.4 million shares — still a mountain, but further from Fidelity Management’s 11.7 million shares.
Is Wayfair owned by Amazon?
Wayfair is not owned by Amazon, and never has been. Instead, the two are competitors in the homeware and furniture space.
Wayfair was founded in 2002 by Cornell graduates Niraj Shah and Steve Conine, who started operations from a spare bedroom at Conine’s.
The company was originally known as CSN Stores before becoming Wayfair in 2011.
The company’s home base has always been Boston, Massachusetts, whether at Corning’s Nursery, Newbury Street, Huntington Avenue, or its current headquarters, Copley Square.
Shah and Conine currently serve as co-chairs of the board, with Shah also serving as CEO.
By contrast, Amazon, headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and Arlington, Virginia, is famously founded by Jeff Bezos and is currently led by CEO Andy Jassy.
Are Wayfair and Overstock the same company?
Wayfair and Overstock are not the same company, but are actually competitors because Overstock also sells mainly furniture.
Overstock was founded in 1999 by Patrick M. Byrne and is headquartered in Meadville, Utah (near Salt Lake City).
The company sells clearance items and new items, posing direct competition to Wayfair.
Similar product categories include furniture, rugs, home decor, curtains, storage, mattresses, and more.
How much does the CEO of Wayfair make?
Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah earns an annual salary of $83.274.
Now, that might sound a bit low considering another Wayfair executive, James Miller, makes $2.6 million a year.
Yet when one sees Shah’s stake worth hundreds of millions of dollars, the salary is clearly a symbolic gesture.
To learn more, you can also read our posts on whether Wayfair ships to Hawaii, Wayfair’s return policy, and whether Wayfair furniture is good.
in conclusion
Wayfair is owned by VC/Shareholders and co-founders Niraj Shah and Steve Conine. Shah holds a dual role for Wayfair, serving as co-chair of the board with his co-founder and CEO Steve Conine.
