In 1998, Evan Goldberg and Larry Ellison discussed the idea of selling software over the internet leading Evan Goldberg to found NetLedger.[8][9][10] NetLedger offered web-hosted accounting software.[8] The company was seeded with start-up money from Ellison who was Oracle's CEO and it employed numerous staff previously employed at Oracle including the chairman, CTO, and other management who transitioned from Oracle to NetLedger. At one time, NetLedger was licensed to Oracle, branded as the Oracle Small Business Suite; However, that experience was short-lived, and the licensing deal was cancelled in 2004.[11]
In July 2002, Zach Nelson was appointed CEO.[12] In September 2003, the company officially changed its name from NetLedger to NetSuite, Inc. to reflect the company expanding its offerings to a suite of business applications beyond accounting.[13][14]
On January 4, 2007, NetSuite named Oakland A's General Manager Billy Beane (of Moneyball fame) to its Board of Directors.[15] NetSuite became a publicly traded company after its initial public offering (IPO) of 6.2 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange in December 2007. It traded under the single-letter ticker symbol "N".[16] On July 28, 2016, Oracle announced it had offered to purchase NetSuite for $9.3 billion.[17][18] The deal closed in November.[17]
NetSuite headquarters are located in Austin, Texas. NetSuite has additional offices in Colorado, California, Illinois, New York, and abroad.
Relationship with Oracle Corporation
In 1998, Evan Goldberg received approximately $125 million in initial financial backing from Larry Ellison,[19] founder and CEO of Oracle through his venture capital entity Tako Ventures.[20] Other initial investors were StarVest Partners, ADP, and UBS PaineWebber.[21] The NetSuite software also relies on Oracle Database software.[22]
Ellison and family members owned approximately 47.4% of NetSuite's common stock as of December 31, 2014. The firm's 10-Q filing on March 2, 2015, stated that "Mr. Ellison is able to exercise control over approval of significant corporate transactions, including a change of control or liquidation."[23]
On July 28, 2016, Oracle announced it had offered to purchase NetSuite for $9.3 billion. The deal faced intense scrutiny because Oracle founder Larry Ellison owned nearly 40% of NetSuite. This conflict of interest led the board of both companies to establish independent committees to review the deal from the perspective of independent shareholders. Some major NetSuite shareholders, such as T. Rowe, notified Oracle they would not be tendering their shares under the current terms of the proposed deal. In early October 2016, Oracle extended the deadline for shareholders of NetSuite to tender their shares to November 4. The deal closed on November 7.[17]
Products, services and support
NetSuite offers a suite of cloud-basedbusiness management applications. The platform can support accounting capabilities like general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, cash management, tax management, purchasing and inventory and order management, along with optional modules like customer relationship management, e-commerce, human resource and workforce management, payroll management, professional services automation, warehouse management and supply chain management.[24] The cost of a NetSuite subscription is not fixed: it depends on the modules selected and the number of users.[25] The platform is accessed via the cloud and all data is centralized and stored in the cloud, allowing users to access data from different devices and countries.[26][27] Fixed asset management, revenue recognition, planning and budgeting and subscription billing are also available.[28] Multi-entity and global accounting and consolidation functionality is available at additional cost via NetSuite's OneWorld module, which supports 27 languages, and multiple currencies and tax codes.[29] As with other cloud-based applications, periodic upgrades offer clients access to current features and functionality more readily than they would have been able to achieve using on-premises code.[30]
NetSuite offers analytics and reporting, which use the centralized data to provide real-time visibility into client company operational and financial performance.[31] Pre-configured role-based dashboards and key performance indicators allow users to monitor business performance.[32]
Acquisitions
2008: OpenAir – web-based timesheets and expense reports[33]
2009: QuickArrow – web-based professional services automation application
