The Knot Worldwide, formerly XO Group and The Knot Inc., is an American media and technology company that provides content, tools, products and services for couples who are planning

wedding A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage ...

s, creating a home, and starting a family. The company generates revenue through

online advertising Online advertising, also known as online marketing, Internet advertising, digital advertising or web advertising, is a form of marketing and advertising which uses the Internet to promote products and services to audiences and platform users. ...

merchandising Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative way that entices customers to purchase more ...

, registry services, and publishing. In 2019, the company was created by a merger between predecessors XO Group, The Knot Inc. and WeddingWire.

History

David Liu, his wife Carley Roney and their business partners, Rob Fassino, and Michael Wolfson founded The Knot Inc. in 1996. They found that the internet could facilitate and reduce anxiety in the process of wedding planning between couples. The startup received seed financing from AOL, the partners launched The Knot brand as a portal on AOL. In 1997, TheKnot.com launched on the internet. The company launched an online gift registry in partnership with QVC and published its first book, The Knot Complete Guide to Weddings in the Real World. In December 1999, the company raised $35 million in an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...

. On December 2, 2000, the company launched its own bridal magazine and went public. The Knot Weddings Magazine is published four times a year and is sold on

newsstands A newsagent's shop or simply newsagent's or paper shop (British English), newsagency ( Australian English) or newsstand ( American and Canadian English) is a business that sells newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, snacks and often items of l ...

. In 2004, the company launched a

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed ...

, Real Weddings from The Knot, on the Oxygen Network. The Nest brand launched in 2005 with a

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Wikip ...

aimed at newly married or cohabiting couples creating their new home. A magazine followed in 2006. In 2006, the company acquired WeddingChannel.com which included its registry platform and helped to consolidate the bridal media industry. In 2008, the company launched TheBump.com to serve expectant and new parents. In June 2011, the company transferred its common stock listing to the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...

(NYSE) with the symbol "XOXO". Mike Steib joined XO Group as president in July 2013 and assumed the role of CEO in March 2014. In October 2015, XO Group announced the acquisition of

GigMasters The Bash (formerly GigMasters) is an event services booking platform. Its headquarters are in South Norwalk, Connecticut, U.S. The Bash matches entertainers with planners of weddings, dances, parties, festivals, celebrations, and corporate even ...

, an online marketplace for event vendors, and a partnership with Jetaport, the discounted hotel room block booking service. In September 2018, XO Group announced that it would merge with competing wedding planning firm WeddingWire and become a privately held company under the control of WeddingWire investors Permira Funds and Spectrum Equity. The merger became official in March 2019 and the new parent company was renamed to The Knot Worldwide.

In other media

In 2013, it was announced that

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...

was developing a film trilogy based on the websites ''The Knot'', ''The Bump'' and ''The Nest'' with a script being written by Natalie Krinsky. However since then, no more news regarding the projects has been made.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:XO Group Mass media companies established in 1996 Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Mass media companies based in New York City 1996 establishments in New York City 1999 initial public offerings 2019 mergers and acquisitions