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| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Private equity |
| Founded | 1999; 27 years ago (1999) |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | Menlo Park, California, United States |
Number of locations | Multiple offices in 4 countries |
Key people |
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| AUM | US$110 billion (2025)[1] |
| Website | www |
Silver Lake Technology Management, L.L.C., is an American globalprivate equity firm focused on technology and technology-enabled investments. Silver Lake is headquartered inMenlo Park andNew York City, and has offices inLondon,Hong Kong, andSingapore.
In June 2024, Silver Lake was ranked 12th inPrivate Equity International's PEI 300 ranking of the largest private equity firms in the world.[2]
| History of private equity and venture capital |
|---|
| Early history |
| (origins of modernprivate equity) |
| The 1980s |
| (leveraged buyout boom) |
| The 1990s |
| (leveraged buyout and the venture capital bubble) |
| The 2000s |
| (dot-com bubble to thecredit crunch) |
| The 2010s |
| (expansion) |
| The 2020s |
| (COVID-19 recession) |
Silver Lake was founded in 1999, at the height of the late-1990stechnology boom to makeprivate equity investments inmature technology companies as opposed to thestartups pursued byventure capitalists. Among the firm's founders were[3] Jim Davidson, who had led the Technology Investment Banking business atHambrecht & Quist;David Roux, who had an operational and entrepreneurial background, having served as chairman and CEO of Liberate Technologies, executive vice president atOracle Corporation, and senior vice president atLotus Development;Roger McNamee, as the representative of Integral Capital Partners, a hybrid investment fund that made investments in publicly traded companies and venture capital investments in early-stage startups; andGlenn Hutchins, who came fromBlackstone Group, had served as a special advisor on economic and healthcare policy in the earlyClinton administration, and had worked atThomas H. Lee Partners.[4]
The firm raised its first fund, Silver Lake Partners, with $2.3 billion of investor commitments[5]; it was among the best-performing funds of its vintage.[6]
The firm's second fund, Silver Lake Partners II, was raised in 2004 with $3.6 billion of commitments.[7]
The firm's third fund, Silver Lake Partners III, was raised in 2007 with $9.6 billion of commitments.[8] Also in 2007, the firm launched amiddle-market investment business, Silver Lake Sumeru, hiring Ajay Shah and the former investment team of Shah Capital Partners. Sumeru completed fundraising for its debut fund in 2008 with $1.1 billion of capital.[9]
In 2011, Silver Lake Kraftwerk was launched to provide growth capital to later-stage companies in technology and tech-enabled businesses across the operations, energy, and resources industries.[10]
After the sale ofSkype toMicrosoft in 2011,[11] Silver Lake was accused of unfairly depriving Skype employees of an options windfall.[12] At issue was a clause in the Skype employee stock option grant agreement. The repurchase right gave Skype the authority to buy back shares at the grant price, when an employee left the company, even when those shares were vested.
In 2013, the firm raised its fourth fund, Silver Lake Partners IV, which closed in 2013 with $10.3 billion in committed capital.[13]
In 2017, the firm raised its fifth fund, Silver Lake Partners V, which closed at $15 billion of commitments. Jim Davidson retired from the managing partner committee.[10]
In September 2020, it was announced that Silver Lake was negotiating to invest more than $1 billion inReliance Retail, an Indian retail company.[14]
In January 2021, the firm raised $20 billion for its sixth fund, Silver Lake Partners VI.[15] In December, Silver Lake purchased a 33.3% stake in theAustralian Professional Leagues (APL).[16] The group organizes Australia's nationalassociation football leagues (theA-League Men,A-League Women andA-League Youth). Silver Lake also had a stake in City Football Group, which owns A-League clubMelbourne City FC. Silver Lake has estimated the value of the APL and its affiliate holdings at over US$300 million.[17]
In May 2024, the firm raised $20.5 billion for its seventh fund, Silver Lake Partners VII.[18]
In August 2025, Silverlake invested $400 million in a joint venture with Commonwealth Asset Management's Adam Fisher and Peter Rumbold to secure powered land for resale to data-center developers.[19]
In December 2019, Silver Lake appointed Egon Durban, a founding principal of Silver Lake, and Greg Mondre as co-CEOs; it also promoted Joe Osnoss to managing partner. Silver Lake announced Ken Hao as chairman and Mike Bingle vice chairman and managing partner emeritus, with the launch of Silver Lake Partners VI.[20][21] In December 2023, Silver Lake promoted Christian Lucas to managing partner.[22]
Since 1999, Silver Lake made investments throughleveraged buyout transactions,minority growth investments andprivate investment in public equity (PIPE) investments. Some of its private equity investments include:
| Investment | Year | Sector | Company description | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electronic Arts | 2025 | Video Game and Entertainment | In September 2025, Silver Lake announced the acquisition of video game company Electronic Arts (EA). The company, which develops game series such asMadden NFL andThe Sims, was acquired for a historic $52.5 billion. | [23] |
| Altera | 2025 | Integrated circuits | Silver Lake acquired 51% stake inAltera. | [24] |
| Diamond Baseball Holdings | 2022 | Sports | Silver Lake acquired direct ownership from subsidiary Endeavor in late 2022. Diamond Baseball Holdings owns and operates over 40Minor League Baseball teams. | [25] |
| Software AG | 2022 | Integration software | In February 2022, Silver Lake Invested €344 million. In April 2023, it offered to buy out the firm for€2.2 billion | [26][27] |
| Integrity | 2021 | Insurtech | In December 2021, Silver Lake Invested $1.2 billion | [28] |
| A League | 2021 | Sports | In December 2021, Silver Lake acquired a 33.3% shareholding | [29] |
| Group 42 | 2021 | Information technology | In April 2021, Silver Lake announced an investment of around $800 million to Group 42, a major part of the Emirates'COVID-19 response andvaccination programme. | [30][31] |
| Klarna | 2020 | Financial | In September 2020, Silver Lake made investments in Klarna Bank totaling a reported $500 million, for less than 5 percent a stake. | [32] |
| Jio | 2020 | E-commerce | In May 2020, Silver Lake invested a reported $753 million in Reliance Retail's digital unit, Jio. In June 2020, Silver Lake invested another reported $602 million in the company. | [33] |
| Expedia Group | 2020 | E-commerce | On April 23, 2020, Silver Lake and Apollo Global Management, Inc. anchored Expedia Group's $3.2 billion new capital raising. | [34] |
| Airbnb | 2020 | E-commerce | On April 6, 2020, Silver Lake and Sixth Street Partners invested $1 billion. | [35] |
| 2020 | Social media | On March 9, 2020, Silver Lake made a $1 billion investment. | [36] | |
| Waymo | 2020 | Autonomous driving | On March 2, 2020, Silver Lake led Waymo's first external investment round. | [37] |
| First Advantage | 2019 | Worker analysis | On November 27, 2019, Silver Lake agreed to acquire First Advantage fromSymphony Technology Group (STG) for $1.25 billion. | [38] |
| City Football Group | 2019 | Sports | On November 27, 2019, Silver Lake announced a definitive agreement to make a $500 million equity investment in City Football Group. | [39] |
| Verily | 2019 | Biotechnology | On January 3, 2019, Silver Lake led a $1 billion investment round in Alphabet's subsidiary. | [40] |
| ServiceMax | 2018 | Information technology | On December 13, 2018, GE Digital announced its intention to sell the majority of ServiceMax to Silver Lake Partners, while retaining a minority stake of 10% in the future of the company. | [41] |
| AMC | 2018 | Entertainment | On September 14, 2018, Silver Lake Alpine invested $600 million. | [42] |
| GoodRx | 2018 | Telemedicine | In 2018, Silver Lake bought a reported 35.3% of equity in GoodRx, valuing the company at a reported $2.8 billion. In 2020, Silver Lake invested another $100 million into GoodRx through a private placement set to the price of GoodRx's IPO. | [43] |
| Ant Group | 2018 | Financial | In 2018, Silver Lake made investments in Ant Group totaling a reported $500 million. In 2020, as Ant Group approached its IPO, the company was reportedly worth $210 billion in comparison to its 2018 reported worth of $150 billion. This increase would create a 40% return for these funds if they were to sell in the IPO at that valuation. | [44] |
| Credit Karma | 2018 | Financial | On March 28, Silver Lake made a $500 million secondary investment. | [45] |
| Blackhawk Network | 2018 | E-commerce | On January 16, 2018, Silver Lake and P2 Capital Partners purchased Blackhawk Network, a company offering prepaid gift, reward and incentive technologies and solutions. | [46] |
| WP Engine | 2018 | Information technology | On January 4, 2018, Silver Lake invested $250 million in WP Engine, a WordPress digital experience platform. | [47] |
| Cornerstone OnDemand | 2017 | Worker management | On November 8, 2017, Silver Lake Alpine led a $300 million investment in Cornerstone OnDemand, a cloud-based learning and human capital management software company. | [48] |
| Unity Technologies | 2017 | Game engine | On May 24, 2017, Silver Lake announced an investment in Unity | [49] |
| SoFi | 2017 | Financial | On February 24, 2017, Silver Lake led a $500 million Series F financing round. | [50] |
| Ancestry | 2016 | Genealogy | On April 1, 2016, Silver Lake and GIC made an investment in Ancestry, the online family history data and personal DNA testing company. | [51] |
| Symantec | 2016 | Cybersecurity | On February 4, 2016, Silver Lake made a strategic investment of $500 million in Symantec. On June 13, 2016, it was announced that Symantec would acquire Blue Coat, and Silver Lake invested another $500 million in conjunction with the transaction. | [52] |
| SolarWinds | 2015 | Information technology | On October 21, 2015, Silver Lake purchased SolarWinds for $60.10 per share, giving the company a total equity value of $4.5 billion. In October 2018, SolarWinds went public through an IPO. | [53] |
| EMC | 2015 | Information technology | On October 12, 2015,EMC announced that they had agreed on a buy-out byMichael Dell and Silver Lake for $33.15 per share in a complicated cash transaction which includedtracking stock inVMware, which remained a publicly traded company. The November 2023 sale of VMware to Broadcom yielded the largest-ever gain in the private equity industry for Silver Lake and Dell, a combined total of $70 billion in cash and stock.[54] | |
| Motorola Solutions | 2015 | Information technology | On August 5, 2015, Silver Lake invested $1 billion in Motorola Solutions in convertible senior notes with a 5-year term at $68.50 per share to help the company make new partnerships, investments, and acquisitions for its public safety solutions and services businesses. The company was then valued at $12.6 billion. Motorola Solutions also used a portion of the investment to fund a share buyback. | [55] |
| Dell | 2013 | Information technology | On February 5, 2013,Dell announced that it had agreed on a buy-out byMichael Dell and Silver Lake for $13.65 per share in cash. The shares of founder and CEO Michael Dell and some of its key management were not included in this purchase.Microsoft additionally provided $2 billion in the form of a loan to assist with the buy-out.[56][57] Upon completion of the deal Dell de-listed fromNASDAQ and theHong Kong Stock Exchange and became fully privately owned company as it was before its firstinitial public offering. According to Michael Dell, this move made it easier to work on a long-term growth strategy as the company could make choices that would payout on the longer term, without the need the address to demands of (short term) individual share-holders.[56] The deal was completed on October 30, 2013, and at $24.4 billion was then the largest technology buyout ever, surpassing the 2006 buyout of Freescale Semiconductor for $17.5 billion.[58] Other smaller investors wereMSD Capital, an investment firm established to manage the wealth of Michael Dell, and Microsoft with its $2 billion loan, and there were several debt-facilities from banks likeBarclays,Credit Suisse,Bank of America andRoyal Bank of Canada.[59] In December 2018, Dell shareholders agreed to a proposal by Dell to engage in a reverse merger with the tracking stock tied to its interest in software provider VMware in which existing holders were invited to cash out some or all of their interest. Dell Technologies is now a public company again. | |
| Global Blue | 2012 | Financial | On May 24, 2012, Silver Lake acquired Global Blue, a leading VAT services provider in Europe, for around €1 billion. | [60] |
| Endeavor | 2012 | Sports and entertainment | On May 2, 2012, Silver Lake acquired a minority stake in William Morris Endeavor (WME). In December 2013, WME and Silver Lake announced they would acquireIMG. In July 2016, Silver Lake helped back WME-IMG's acquisition of UFC. In October 2017, WME-IMG announced the formation of a new holding company, Endeavor, which took on the full portfolio of owned and operated brands formerly under the WME-IMG banner. Endeavor went public in 2021, trading under ticker symbol "EDR" on the NYSE. In April 2024, Silver Lake acquired the remaining shares of the company to take it private in a deal that valued Endeavor at $13 billion. The take-private transaction was completed on March 24, 2025. | [61][62][63][64] |
| Alibaba | 2011 | E-commerce | In 2011 and 2012, Silver Lake made investments in Alibaba totaling a reported $500 million. In September 2014, Alibaba listed on the NYSE in the largest ever US-listed IPO, with Silver Lake maintaining a stake worth more than $5.1 billion at the time. | [65] |
| GoDaddy | 2011 | Web hosting | On July 1, 2011, Silver Lake and others joined with Bob Parsons to take GoDaddy private. In 2015, GoDaddy re-entered the public market. | [66] |
| Skype | 2009 | Communication software | Silver Lake,Andreessen Horowitz and theCanada Pension Plan Investment Board announced the acquisition of 65% ofSkype for $1.9 billion fromeBay, valuing the business at $2.75 billion. In May 2011,Microsoft agreed to acquire Skype for $8.5 billion in cash. | [67][68][11][69] |
| Avaya | 2007 | Communication software | Silver Lake andTPG Capital completed an $8.2 billion leveraged buyout of the enterprise telephony and call center technology company that was formerly a unit ofLucent. | [70] |
| Sabre | 2006 | E-commerce | Silver Lake andTPG Capital announced a deal to buySabre, which operatesSabre Travel Network andSabre Airline Solutions, for approximately $4.3 billion in cash, plus the assumption of $550 million in debt. Earlier in 2006, Blackstone acquired Sabre's chief competitorTravelport. | [71] |
| NXP Semiconductors | 2006 | Electronics | In August 2006, aconsortium of Silver Lake,KKR andAlpInvest Partners acquired a controlling 80.1% share of the semiconductors unit ofPhilips for €6.4 billion. The new company, based in the Netherlands, was renamedNXP Semiconductors. | [72][73] |
| SunGard | 2006 | Information technology | SunGard was acquired by a consortium of seven private equity investment firms in a transaction valued at $11.3 billion. The partners in the acquisition were Silver Lake, which led the deal as well asBain Capital,Blackstone,Goldman Sachs Alternatives,KKR,Providence Equity Partners, andTPG Capital. This represented the largest leveraged buyout completed since the takeover ofRJR Nabisco at the end of the 1980s leveraged buyout boom. Also, at the time of its announcement, SunGard would be the largest buyout of a technology company in history, a distinction it would cede to the buyout ofFreescale Semiconductor. The SunGard transaction is also notable in the number of firms involved in the transaction. The involvement of seven firms in the consortium was criticized by investors in private equity who considered cross-holdings among firms to be generally unattractive. In 2015 the consortium sold the bulk of the Sungard business toFIS. | [74] |
| Broadcom | 2005 | Electronics | In 2005, the semiconductor division of Agilent was acquired by Silver Lake andKKR, to formAvago Technologies, one of the largest privately held semiconductor companies in the world. In 2009, Avago completed a $650 million initial public offering. In 2013, Silver Lake reinvested $1 billion in Avago to help finance its acquisition of LSI. In 2015, Silver Lake supported Avago's $37 billion acquisition of Broadcom, the biggest tech deal on record at the time. | [75] |
Silver Lake operates through four primary strategies, all focused on technology investments:
