🚀 How GitHub Grew to a $16B+ Valuation & $2B Annual Revenue

“The rich have full bank accounts. The wealthy have empty calendars.”

The TL;DR: From a developer's side project to $2B annual revenue by becoming the world's largest hub for code and software development!

When Microsoft paid $7.5 billion for GitHub in 2018 (a staggering 25x revenue multiple), many developers threatened to abandon the platform, fearing the tech giant would ruin what made GitHub special. Instead, the acquisition proved transformative for both companies. GitHub's revenue soared from $300M to $2B annually, while Microsoft shed its anti-open-source reputation. The most remarkable part? GitHub's small team of founders and engineers built something so valuable that even the world's most valuable company couldn't recreate it—they had to buy it. This is the story of how GitHub remained true to its developer-first ethos while becoming Microsoft's bridge to the next generation of coders.

💡 Problem Solved:

1. Developers needed a better way to collaborate on code and track changes

2. GitHub created a user-friendly platform for Git version control with social features

3. Now serves 100M+ developers and hosts over 420M repositories worldwide

🛠️ How It Works:

Developers store code in repositories → track changes with Git → collaborate through pull requests → deploy with GitHub Actions

🔄 The Origin Story:

Founded in 2007 by Chris Wanstrath, P.J. Hyett, and Tom Preston-Werner as a way to simplify collaboration using the Git version control system

📈 Growth Strategy:

1. Freemium Model: Free for open source, paid for private repositories

2. Developer Community: Became the social network for coders

3. Enterprise Focus: Added team collaboration and security features

4. Expanding Feature Set: CI/CD with Actions, Codespaces for cloud development

5. AI Integration: GitHub Copilot fueling 40% of recent revenue growth

💰 Revenue Journey:

$100M from enterprise products (2018) → $300M total ARR (2018) GitHub was also talking to Google about a deal, but went with Microsoft instead → $1B ARR (2022) Microsoft says GitHub now has a $1B ARR, 90M active users | TechCrunch → $2B annual revenue run rate (2024) How GitHub Revenue Hit $2B by Prioritizing Developers

💼 The Microsoft Acquisition:

Microsoft acquired GitHub for $7.5B in stock in 2018, allowing it to operate independently while providing resources to scale Microsoft has acquired GitHub for $7.5B in stock | TechCrunch

💪 Competitive Edge:

Beat competitors like GitLab and Bitbucket by focusing on developer experience, building network effects through open source, and maintaining platform independence even after acquisition

🏆 Market Dominance:

Used by 90% of Fortune 500 companies, GitHub has higher enterprise penetration than even Salesforce (80%) GitHub's Impressive Growth Under Microsoft | TextQuery

🔮 What's Next:

AI-powered development tools, expanding enterprise features, and becoming the central platform connecting all developer workflows

🔑 The Winning Formula:

"Create a platform developers love, keep it open and accessible, and build revenue around additional value for power users and enterprises."

👇 Your Turn:

Are you among the 100M+ developers using GitHub? How has it changed your workflow?

What were others doing when they were your age? Test yourself

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