GoDaddy CEO Scott Wagner: New Services, International Market Will Fuel Growth
*By Conor White*
Web hosting company GoDaddy has doubled its revenue in the last five years and seen its stock increase in price by more than 175%. Recently appointed CEO Scott Wagner believes that's only the beginning.
"Today GoDaddy is a useful utility to get your idea started online," Wagner explained. "And our goal over the next five years is to really be the place where ideas start, grow, and thrive online."
Wagner has been at GoDaddy since 2013, serving as CFO and COO before taking over the top spot in January. He'd previously been at investment firm KKR, where he led the portfolio operations team. The firm poured $2.25 billion into GoDaddy back in 2011.
In an interview Wednesday on Cheddar, Wagner mapped out where GoDaddy is headed next and explained why he's so bullish on the future of the company.
"Seven \[million\] of our 18 million customers are from outside the U.S., that will continue nicely," he said. "And it's adding new services ー so connecting not only a tool to build your website to social media platforms.
"We just bought a business called Main Street Hub that'll really be the place where not only can you have an idea and position it on the web, but syndicate that content everywhere you need to be on social media."
GoDaddy reported first-quarter revenue of $633.2 million, up 29% from the year before, and 17.7 million customers, up 17.4%.
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/ceo-of-godaddy-talks-future-plans)
As the holiday weekend arrives, travelers are bracing themselves for higher gas prices amid the inflation surge, but Robert Sinclair, AAA spokesperson, joined Cheddar News to discuss how the higher costs likely won't hold people back this Memorial Day Weekend. “We're near pre-pandemic levels. Nearly 40 million people are traveling. And of that total, about 35 million will be driving to their destinations," he said.
Umbilical cord blood banking platform Anja Health raised $4.5 million dollars in a seed round led by Seven Seven Six, a venture capital firm founded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. Anja Health offers a personalized, doctor-backed cord blood bank, which lets new parents freeze stem cells from their child's umbilical cord so they can be used to treat diseases in the future. It's a process Anja has called 'Hollywood's best-kept secret,' as celebrities like Kylie Jenner, Serena Williams, and more have all banked their umbilical cord blood. Kathryn Cross, the founder of Anja Health, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Catching you up on what you missed in today's news. Elon Musk has increased his commitment to purchase Twitter to $33.5 billion, Apple is raising its hourly wages for retail stores to compete for talent, and Roblox has announced that it will be partnering with the medically prescribed video game ‘Endeavor’ to help treat patients with ADHD.
