# Shutterstock

Shutterstock is an Asset Manager based in New York, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Asset Manager
- **Headquarters:** New York, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** 350 Fifth Avenue, 21st Floor, New York, NY 10118, United States
- **Founded:** 2003
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** shutterstock.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/shutterstock

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Shutterstock is a New York City-based company founded in 2003. It operates a marketplace for imagery, offering photos, design inspiration, and video content.

## Sectors

- Enterprise Software
- AI/ML
- Media & Entertainment

## Offices

- Berlin
- London
- Menlo Park
- Montreal
- Mumbai

## People

- Jon Oringer — Founder and Chairman
- Paul Hennessy — Chief Executive Officer
- Jarrod Yahes — Chief Financial Officer

## Questions

### Who runs investment and capital allocation decisions at Shutterstock?

As a publicly traded corporation, major capital allocation decisions rest with CEO Paul Hennessy and CFO Jarrod Yahes, subject to board oversight. Jon Oringer, the founder who bootstrapped the company, remains Executive Chairman and the largest individual shareholder, giving him meaningful influence over strategic direction. The company does not operate an external investment portfolio or LP commitment program.

### How does Shutterstock monetize its content library beyond subscription licensing?

Shutterstock has built a distinct data-licensing revenue stream that sells images, metadata, and video to AI developers for training generative models. Signed public partnerships include deals with OpenAI, Meta, and LG AI Research. This supplements the core subscription business that serves roughly 2.3 million active users across 150 countries.

### Is Shutterstock structured as an operating company with a treasury function, or as an asset manager?

Shutterstock is an operating company listed on the NYSE (ticker: SSTK). It runs a content marketplace and data-licensing business, not a capital-deployment fund. M&A spend — such as the $53 million Giphy acquisition in 2023 — flows through corporate treasury, not an allocation committee making institutional-style fund commitments.

### What is Shutterstock's relationship with the AI ecosystem, and how does it manage contributor concerns?

Shutterstock licenses its library to AI model developers including OpenAI and Meta for training purposes. Simultaneously, it operates an in-platform AI image generator powered by OpenAI technology. To address artist concerns, the company established a contributor fund that compensates creators whose work is used to train generative models, attempting to balance commercial data licensing with contributor rights.

### Does Shutterstock make venture investments or fund commitments?

Shutterstock has not disclosed a venture capital arm or fund-of-funds allocation program. Capital deployment is directed at M&A (notably TurboSquid in 2021, Pond5 and Giphy in 2023) and organic product investment, rather than external fund commitments or LP positions.

### Where does Shutterstock's underlying enterprise value come from?

The company's publicly traded equity, with a market capitalization that has fluctuated in the low billions, derives from a recursive content model: contributors upload assets that subscribers license, creating a royalty pool that attracts more contributors. Layered on top is the data-licensing business, which repurposes the same library for a second, non-competing buyer set in the AI sector.

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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