Jon Oringer (born May 2, 1974) is an American programmer, photographer, and billionaire businessman, best known as the founder and CEO of
Shutterstock, a
stock media company headquartered in New York City.
Oringer started his career while a college student in the 1990s, when he created "one of the Web's first
pop-up blockers."
He went on to found about ten small
startups
A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an Entrepreneurship, entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses tha ...
that used a subscription method to sell "personal
firewalls, accounting software, cookie blockers, trademark managers," and other small programs.
In 2003, Oringer founded Shutterstock to provide
microstock photography, which has been publicly traded on the
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...
since 2012.
As a result of going public, in 2013 Oringer was reported to be New York's first tech billionaire.
Shutterstock had over 100,000 contributors as of March 2016,
with an "active customer base of 1.4 million people in 150 countries."
Among other accolades, in 2012 Oringer was named New York's Technology Entrepreneur of the Year by
Ernst & Young
EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...
,
and the following year Oringer was recognized as one of ''
Crain's New York''
40 Under 40.
Early life and education
Jon Oringer was born in 1974
[ in ]Scarsdale, New York
Scarsdale is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The Town of Scarsdale is coterminous municipality, coextensive with the Village of Scarsdale, but the community has opted to operate ...
, where he spent his childhood.[ He began learning ]computer programming
Computer programming or coding is the composition of sequences of instructions, called computer program, programs, that computers can follow to perform tasks. It involves designing and implementing algorithms, step-by-step specifications of proc ...
in elementary school,[ using his ]Apple IIe
The Apple IIe (styled as Apple //e) is the third model in the Apple II series of personal computers produced by Apple Inc., Apple Computer. It was released in January 1983 as the successor to the Apple II Plus. The ''e'' in the name stands for ...
to code "simple games and plug-ins for bulletin board systems." As he grew older he also developed his own photos as a hobby. Attending Scarsdale High School from 1988 to 1992, by the age of fifteen Oringer was teaching guitar lessons, later moving on to fixing computers out of his parents house when he realized it was more lucrative. Oringer started selling his own software products over the internet when he began attending Stony Brook University
Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public university, public research university in Stony Brook, New York, United States, on Long Island. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is on ...
in 1993, inventing and selling thousands of copies of what ''Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' describes as "one of the Web's first pop-up blockers." After graduating with a BS in computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...
and mathematics in 1997, from 1996 to 1998 he studied computer science at Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
, graduating with an MS. While enrolled at Columbia he continued "trying to create products to complement the pop-up blocker," using a subscription model[ to sell "personal firewalls, accounting software, cookie blockers, trademark managers," and other small programs.] Oringer estimates that he founded about ten small startup companies, most of which had Oringer as the sole employee.
Career
Founding Shutterstock
While marketing his software through a mailing list, Oringer realized that emails with photos were better received than emails without. Finding it difficult to find affordable generic stock photos online, in 2003[ he purchased a Canon Rebel camera] to take pictures for a new stock-photo marketplace that catered to advertisers and " microstock photography." Oringer went on to take about 100,000 of his own images over six months,[ eventually posting a culled collection of 30,000 images to a new website he named Shutterstock.][ Funding Shutterstock entirely with his savings,] Oringer rented a 600-square-foot office in New York for the company and initially handled all roles himself, including customer service. Like his previous projects he made the photographs available via subscription, with unlimited downloads and a monthly starting fee of US$49. He also advertised Shutterstock on platforms such as Google AdWords.
Initially hiring friends to serve as models for the stock photos, Oringer later hired a photo director to organize shoots for the company. When demand exceeded his photo supply, he became an agent and hired additional contributors, also hiring a team of reviewers to ensure "editorial consistency and quality."
IPO
In May 2012, Oringer brought Shutterstock public after filing for 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 investm ...
on the New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...
, which it completed on October 17, 2012. After going public, Oringer continued to own about 55 percent of Shutterstock, largely through the investment company Pixel Holdings.[ Stock value over the ensuing year increased considerably, and on June 28, 2013,][ Andre Sequin, an analyst at RBC Capital Market,][ announced Oringer as the "first billionaire to come out of ]Silicon Alley
Silicon Alley is an area of high tech companies centered around southern Manhattan's Flatiron district in New York City. The term was coined in the 1990s during the dot-com boom, alluding to California's Silicon Valley tech center. The term h ...
- New York's thriving tech sector." His net wealth at the time was estimated at US$1.05 billion.[
]
Recent developments
In 2014, Oringer spoke at 2014 Class Day at the Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science. After maintaining its New York headquarters for years in a Wall Street
Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...
office, in March 2014 Oringer relocated Shutterstock to the Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story, Art Deco-style supertall skyscraper in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its n ...
.
In January 2015, Oringer oversaw Shutterstock's acquisition of both Rex Features, Europe's largest independent photo press agency, and PremiumBeat, a stock music and sound effects service.
Following Shutterstock's decision to implement a tool to censor results in China, Oringer defended the company's decision when faced with an employee petition against the system.
In February 2020, Oringer announced that he would be stepping down as Shutterstock CEO effective April 2020, and would become executive chairman.
Awards and recognition
Oringer has been recognized with a number of business awards, and in 2009 he was selected 41st on the Silicon Alley 100, an annual list of the 100 most influential entrepreneurs, investors, executives, and technologists in Manhattan. ''Business Insider
''Business Insider'' (stylized in all caps: BUSINESS INSIDER; known from 2021 to 2023 as INSIDER) is a New York City–based multinational financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Inside ...
'' named Oringer the coolest person in all of New York technology in 2013. Oringer was recognized in June 2012 as New York's Technology Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young
EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...
, and the following year Oringer was recognized as one of '' Crain's New York'' class of 2013 40 Under 40.
Personal life
Based in West Village
The West Village is a neighborhood in the western section of the larger Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. The West Village is bounded by the Hudson River to the west and 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to ...
in Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
, around 2012 Oringer became a certified commercial helicopter pilot.
In 2020, Oringer paid $42 million for a Miami Beach mansion, marking a record on North Bay Road.
References
External links
JonOringer.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oringer, Jon
Stock photographers
21st-century American businesspeople
Living people
1974 births
20th-century American Jews
American billionaires
Scarsdale High School alumni
Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni
Stony Brook University alumni
American chief executives
American company founders
People from Greenwich Village
21st-century American Jews