Bankrate

Bankrate, LLC is a consumer financial services company based in New York City. Bankrate.com, perhaps its best-known brand, is a personal finance website. As of November 8, 2017, it became a subsidiary of Red Ventures Inc. through an acquisition.[3]

For the economic feature, see bank rate.
Bankrate, LLC
Private
IndustryInternet
Founded1976 (1976)
Headquarters
New York City, New York
,
U.S.
Area served
U.S., Canada, China
Key people
Kenneth Esterow, President and CEO
Revenue US $434.2 million (2016)[1]
Number of employees
384[2]
WebsiteBankrate.com

History

Bankrate was founded in 1976 by Robert K. Heady as a print publisher of the "Bank Rate Monitor."[2]

In 1996, the company began moving its business online.[2] Today, Bankrate, Inc.'s online network includes Bankrate.com as well as CreditCards.com, Caring.com, Interest.com, Bankaholic.com, Mortgage-calc.com, CreditCardGuide.com, ThePointsGuy.com, Bankrate.com.cn, CreditCards.ca, NetQuote.com, CD.com, Walla.by and Quizzle.

The online network received over 150 million visits in 2010.[2]

In January 2011, Bankrate completed the acquisition of Trouve Media. In December 2011, Bankrate completed the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of InsWeb Corporation for $65 million in cash.[4]

In March 2012, Bankrate acquired InsuranceAgents.com.[5]

After spending 10 years as a public company traded on the NASDAQ, Bankrate was acquired in 2009 by Apax Partners in a transaction valued at approximately $571 million.[6]

In June 2011, Bankrate raised a total of $300 million in gross proceeds with a successful Initial Public Offering on the New York Stock Exchange.[7] In December 2011, Bankrate priced a secondary offering of 12.5 million shares at $17.50 per share.[8]

In 2012, the company purchased The Points Guy, a site that publishes travel-oriented articles highlighting the credit cards it sells.[9]

In 2014, Bankrate acquired Caring.com for $54 million.[10]

Kenneth S. Esterow was appointed Bankrate's President and Chief Executive Officer in January 2014, having previously served as Senior Vice President – Chief Operating Officer from September 2013 to December 2013.[11]

Bankrate was acquired by Red Ventures for $1.24 billion in November, 2017.[12]

In January 2018, Bankrate expanded into the UK with an office, editorial, and commercial teams in London, along with a localized Bankrate UK website.[13] The site is run by Sebastian Anthony, former editor of Ars Technica.

In September 2018, the former chief financial officer Edward J. DiMaria was found guilty of committing accounting and securities fraud which led to over $25 million in shareholder losses.[14] DiMaria was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and ordered to pay $21,234,214 in restitution. Former vice president of finance Hyunjin Lerner also pleaded guilty for his role in the conspiracy and was sentenced to 5 years in prison.[15]

Services
The New York Stock Exchange on June 17, 2011, when Bankrate's shares were listed.

Since the beginning, Bankrate has provided information about interest rates. Beginning in 2004, Bankrate also began offering financial education content, insurance quotes, and credit card offers.[16]

One of Bankrate's reports in 2014 determined the costs of car ownership in each state, taking into account the costs of gas and insurance, among other factors. The data suggested that Wyoming is the most expensive state in the nation to own a car.[17]

Honors

The National Association of Real Estate Editors in 2014 named Bankrate's Mortgage blog the winner of its Best Blog and Best Column awards.[18]

In October 2012, Advertising Age ranked Bankrate as the fifth fastest-growing media company.[19]

Bankrate's "Financial Regulation, One Year Later" package earned a 2012 "Best in Business" award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW).[20]

Bankrate won two SABEW Awards in 2011: Holden Lewis' mortgage blog and Bankrate's explanatory series on financial reform were honored.[21]

Bankrate writers have won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists several times, most recently in 2007 for their coverage of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee's rate cut.[22] I

In 2008, Forbes named Bankrate #41 in its list of America's 200 Best Small Companies.[23] Forbes previously had honored the website in its "Best of the Web" series five times between 1999 and 2004.[24]

gollark: There's bound to be at least one spriter who won't breed 2Gs...
gollark: An impossible dream...
gollark: The ones at the start, I mean.
gollark: I don't think all of those are alts.
gollark: I read that as trees at the end...

References
  1. "Bankrate Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2016 Financial Results".
  2. "Amendment No. 1 to Form S-1 Registration Statement Under the Securities Act of 1933". Retrieved 2012-02-07.
  3. "Red Ventures Announces Closing of Acquisition of Bankrate, Inc". www.redventures.com. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  4. "Bankrate, Inc. Completes Acquisition of Insurance Lead Generation and Marketing Assets of InsWeb Corporation". Retrieved 2012-02-04.
  5. "Bankrate Buys Columbus Leads Generator InsuranceAgents.com". Retrieved 2012-05-11.
  6. "Bankrate, Inc. Agrees to be Acquired by Apax Partners for $28.50 Per Share in Cash" (Press release). Bankrate, Inc. July 22, 2009.
  7. "Bankrate, Inc. Celebrates Initial Public Offering and First Day of Trading on the New York Stock Exchange" (Press release). New York Stock Exchange. June 17, 2011.
  8. "Bankrate, Inc. Announces Pricing of Secondary Offering" (Press release). Bankrate, Inc. December 6, 2011.
  9. Martin, Grant (December 1, 2014). "The Blurring Ethical Lines Between Credit Card Companies and Travel Writers". Skift.com.
  10. "Bankrate buys Caring.com for $54 million". Silicon Valley Business Journal. Retrieved 2020-03-31.
  11. "PROXY STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 14(a) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934". April 30, 2014. Archived from the original on 2015-03-27.
  12. "Red Ventures to Buy Bankrate for $1.24 Billion". CNBC. July 3, 2017. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  13. https://www.bankrate.com/uk/
  14. Heller, Matthew (2018-09-26). "Ex-Bankrate CFO Gets 10 Years for $25M Fraud". CFO. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  15. "Former Chief Financial Officer of Bankrate Inc. Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Orchestrating a Complex Accounting and Securities Fraud Scheme". www.justice.gov. 2018-09-25. Retrieved 2019-06-03.
  16. "Form 10-K". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 12 Mar 2012. Retrieved 11 Jul 2018.
  17. Chokshi, Niraj. "Map: The most expensive state to be a car owner is … Wyoming?". www.washingtonpost.com. The Washington Post. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  18. "National Association of Real Estate Editors". www.naree.org. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  19. "Your Guide to the Leading Media Companies 2012". SABEW. October 1, 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
  20. "Complete List of Winners in SABEW's 17th Annual Best in Business Awards". SABEW. February 17, 2012. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
  21. "202 Winners Announced for SABEW's Annual Best in Business Contest". SABEW. March 18, 2011. Retrieved 2011-09-16.
  22. "SPJ Announces the 2007 Sigma Delta Chi Award Winners" (Press release). Society of Professional Journalists. April 14, 2008. and "54th Annual Green Eyeshade Excellence in Journalism Award Winners" (Press release). April 12, 2004. and "1999 Sigma Delta Chi Award Honorees". Retrieved 2008-11-30.
  23. "#41 Bankrate". Forbes.com. Forbes Digital. October 8, 2008. Archived from the original on 12 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-28.
  24. "Award-winning content". Bankrate. Archived from the original on 23 June 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-28.
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