Who owns Discord? Behind the ownership

It is quite unusual to ask ourselves who owns Discord. We use Discord, Spotify, and other similar platforms almost daily, yet we don’t think about the masterminds behind it.

Discord is owned by Discord Inc., a private company co-founded by Jason Citron and Stan Vishnevskiy in 2015. The company remains independent, with Citron serving as the CEO.

Over the years, Discord has attracted significant investments from venture capital firms and other investors, but it has not been acquired by any larger tech companies. The ownership primarily lies with its founders, early employees, and investors.

What is Discord?

Discord is a place where you can chat, talk, and share stuff with friends. You can talk one-on-one or in big groups called “servers”. Servers have different rooms for chatting and talking. You can join a server if someone invites you, and you can use Discord on your computer, phone, and also even on the tablet.

Discord is really popular. About 150 million people use it every month, and there are around 19 million groups on it. It started for gamers, but now all kinds of people use it.

By March 2024, it was the 30th most visited website in the world, and most of its users are from the United States.

Who Owns Discord: History of it’s Ownership

The story of Discord begins with Jason Citron, a seasoned entrepreneur and software developer.

Before Discord, Citron founded OpenFeint, a social platform for mobile games. OpenFeint was sold to GREE, a Japanese social media company, in 2011 for $104 million. With the experience and financial backing from this venture, Citron embarked on his next project, which would eventually become Discord.

Jason Citron and Stan Vishnevskiy wanted to make a better way for people to talk online. They thought the other apps were bad, so they made Discord. Discord started as a place for gamers to chat, but they wanted it to be used for other things too.

They got money to start Discord from a company called YouWeb, where Jason had worked before.

Discord got a lot of money from big investors. Companies like Benchmark Capital and Greylock Partners gave Discord money to grow. Discord started with just a few friends but now has over 300 million users.

Many big companies wanted to buy Discord. Microsoft even offered a lot of money, but Discord said no. The people who run Discord want to keep it independent and special.

Who Owns Discord in 2024?

Discord is still owned by the people who started it. Most of Discord belongs to Jason Citron and Stanislav Vishnevskiy. Even though other people have invested money in Discord, they don’t own very much compared to the founders.

Discord wants to stay independent so it can focus on helping people connect and share hobbies.

How does Discord Make Money?

Now that you know who owns Discord, let’s take a closer look at how the platform generates its revenue.

In 2023, Discord reportedly brought in approximately $207 million in revenue from its paid users. But how exactly does Discord make money?

1. Discord Premium Subscriptions

Discord is different from most social media. It doesn’t make money from ads. Instead, it charges for a special membership.

You can use Discord for free, but if you pay, you get extra stuff. This includes sending bigger files, using cool emojis, watching better videos, and customizing your profile.

Discord currently offers two premium subscription plans:

Nitro Basic
Nitro

These subscription plans have proven to be a substantial revenue generator, as many users opt for the added functionalities that come with these premium tiers.

2. Discord Merchandise

They have an online store with cool things like keyboards, hats, and mugs with the Discord logo. They also sell stuff for gamers.

We don’t know exactly how much money they make from selling such things,but it is likely a considerable amount. It helps Discord make money and makes people like them even more.

3. Game Distribution Store

Discord also lets game makers sell their games right on the app. Just like other places that sell games, Discord takes a small fee for each game sold.

This is good for everyone. Game makers can reach lots of people who already use Discord. And Discord makes money from all the games sold.

4. Server Boosts

Discord makes money by letting people pay to improve their server. If you pay to boost your server, it gets better sound quality, more emojis, and other cool stuff. People like to make their servers special, so this is a good way for Discord to earn money.

Who Owns Discord: Discord’s Impact on the Communication Industry

Discord is more than just for gamers. It changed how we talk online. Discord started using things like different chat rooms for different topics, and easy-to-use voice chat. Now, everyone else copies those ideas.

Discord is also great for bringing people together who like the same things. You can find groups for anything, from movies to video games. It’s like a place where you can hang out with friends who share your interests.

This is what makes Discord different from other apps like Slack. Those apps are more for work stuff, but Discord is all about fun and community.

Plus, Discord is really popular with people who make videos or live streams. They use it to talk to their fans and give special stuff to people who pay them. This makes Discord a great place for online communities.

Sources:

Who Owns Discord? Behind the Ownership

What is Discord?