Bending Spoons’ four cofounders this week joined the billionaire ranks.
CEO Luca Ferrari’s stake in the Milan-based tech conglomerate is now reportedly worth $1.4 billion, while cofounders Matteo Danieli, Luca Querella, and Francesco Patarnello each hold stakes worth $1.3 billion, according to Forbes estimates based on shareholder data published by the Italian Business Register.
The valuations come on the heels of Bending Spoons’ latest funding round: $270 million from investors including T. Rowe Price and earlier backers Baillie Gifford, Cox Enterprises, Durable Capital Partners, and Fidelity, plus a $440 million secondary share sale by existing shareholders. It’s unclear whether any of the cofounders sold stock in the secondary transaction. Bending Spoons has declined to comment on its cofounders’ stakes.
Despite its catchy name, Bending Spoons has stayed remarkably under the radar. The 12-year-old outfit typically makes headlines only when it adds another recognizable brand to its growing portfolio — most recently this past week, when it agreed to acquire AOL. for an undisclosed amount.
But Bending Spoons isn’t a traditional private equity firm or a pure financial investment vehicle. Its focus is on acquiring underperforming but popular tech brands, then transforming them to serve millions of users more efficiently.
The company tends to make news when it restructures these acquired companies, often through significant layoffs, or makes controversial changes to beloved products — or both in the case of Evernote and WeTransfer.
Still, Bending Spoons itself remains largely unknown, even though its roster of products has served more than a billion people, with over 300 million monthly active users and 10 million paying customers. Here’s what you need to know about the company reshaping some of the internet’s most recognizable brands.
Techcrunch event Join the Disrupt 2026 Waitlist Add yourself to the Disrupt 2026 waitlist to be first in line when Early Bird tickets drop. Past Disrupts have brought Google Cloud, Netflix, Microsoft, Box, Phia, a16z, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Hugging Face, Elad Gil, and Vinod Khosla to the stages — part of 250+ industry leaders driving 200+ sessions built to fuel your growth and sharpen your edge. Plus, meet the hundreds of startups innovating across every sector. Join the Disrupt 2026 Waitlist Add yourself to the Disrupt 2026 waitlist to be first in line when Early Bird tickets drop. Past Disrupts have brought Google Cloud, Netflix, Microsoft, Box, Phia, a16z, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Hugging Face, Elad Gil, and Vinod Khosla to the stages — part of 250+ industry leaders driving 200+ sessions built to fuel your growth and sharpen your edge. Plus, meet the hundreds of startups innovating across every sector. San Francisco | WAITLIST NOW
What is Bending Spoons?
Bending Spoons describes itself as a company that acquires and transforms digital businesses. Having grown to a headcount of 400 to 500 “Spooners,” its main focus is on making improvements to products and services that others have created.
... continue reading