Vignette, a Timeline
In early 2000 a software company from Austin, Texas, was valued at about $15 billion - more than Xerox. Nine years later it was sold for about $321 million. This video follows Vignette from its founding to its sale, and what became of it.
Ross Garber and Neil Webber founded Vignette at the end of 1995 to make big websites easy to publish. CNET handed over its PRISM publishing software and, per Forbes, about $500,000 for a third of the company; StoryServer shipped in January 1997 and built each web page from a database as the visitor arrived - the idea now called a content management system.
Greg Peters became chief executive in June 1998. The IPO on 19 February 1999 was priced at $19; the shares closed the first day at about $42.69, and $100 invested that day was worth $1,716 by the end of 1999. In 2000 Vignette used its soaring shares to buy DataSage (about $587m) and OnDisplay (about $1.5bn). A share reached $297 before a three-for-one split; staff reached 2,330. The company lost $532m that year.
Then the crash: about 975 jobs cut in 2001, a $799m write-down, a loss of about $1.53bn, and shares under a dollar by late 2002. Tom Hogan rebuilt with small purchases - Epicentric, Intraspect and Tower Technology. Mike Aviles returned Vignette to profit in 2006-07, before sales fell in 2008.
On 6 May 2009 Open Text agreed to buy Vignette for $8 in cash plus 0.1447 of an Open Text share for each share; the deal closed on 21 July 2009 at about $321 million. In April 2011 the Vignette name was dropped. And in September 2026 OpenText, now a $5.2bn-a-year company, priced $1bn of new notes.
Forwards or backwards? No figure appears without its date and source.
Educational documentary. Not financial or investment advice.
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Sources and credits
Photo credits (Wikimedia Commons)
- Downtown Austin, Texas skyline (Vignette's home city): Reid Sullivan, Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAustin_skyline_2.jpg
- Congress Avenue and the Texas Capitol, downtown Austin: The original uploader was Leonfu at English Wikipedia., Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ACongress_Ave._in_downtown_Austin.JPG
- Nasdaq MarketSite, Times Square, New York (where VIGN traded): NASA Headquarters / NASA/Emma Howells, Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ANASA_Mars_Perseverance_on_Nasdaq_MarketSite_%28NHQ202102180118%29.jpg
- Office desk with CRT monitor, early 2000s: unknown, Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ATypicalbusyoffice20050109.jpg
- Near-empty open-plan office of cubicles: Larsinio at English Wikipedia, Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ACubicle_land.jpg
Primary sources
- Vignette Corporation, final prospectus (Form 424B4), SEC EDGAR, filed 22 February 1999 - co-founded December 1995, incorporated 19 December 1995; $400,000 seed from Austin Ventures and Sigma Partners, February 1996; PRISM agreement 19 July 1996; StoryServer shipped January 1997; Greg Peters CEO June 1998, from Logic Works; StoryServer 4 available July 1998; IPO price $19; customers incl. Chicago Tribune and Preview Travel; revenue 1997-98.
- Forbes, Om Malik, 'Vignette is the story', 14 October 1998 - CNET put in $500,000 for a 33% stake; $27.8m raised from VC firms.
- Forbes, Daniel Fisher, 'Automating the Web', 29 November 1999.
- CNNfn, 'WebTrends, Vignette IPOs soar', 19 February 1999 (1:20 p.m. ET) - up 152% intraday. Computer Business Review, 21 February 1999 - closed at $42.6875, up 124.7%.
- Vignette Form 10-K for 1999 (filed 30 March 2000) and 2000 (filed 7 March 2001) - 1999 revenue $89.2m; two-for-one split 1 December 1999; three-for-one split paid 14 April 2000; Q1 2000 high $99.00 split-adjusted; DataSage ~$586.6m; OnDisplay ~$1.5bn; 2,330 staff at 31 December 2000; 2000 revenue $366.7m.
- Vignette proxy statement (DEF 14A), filed 12 April 2001 - $100 at IPO worth $1,715.79 on 31 December 1999 and $568.42 on 31 December 2000.
- News On 6, 'Rise of Vignette a good start-up story', 22 February 2000 - market value about $15bn, more than Xerox.
- Vignette 10-Q Q1 and Q2 2001; 10-K for 2001 and 2002 - ~350 and ~200 job cuts, ~975 in 2001; $799.2m goodwill impairment; net losses; Q4 2002 low $0.73; Hogan president April 2001, CEO July 2002.
- Vignette 8-K exhibit, 29 October 2002 (Epicentric, up to $32m); The Register, 25 September 2003 (Intraspect, $20m); Vignette 10-K for 2003 and release of 1 March 2004 (Tower Technology, ~$125m).
- Vignette 8-K, June 2005 (one-for-ten reverse split effective 10 June 2005); Vignette release, 26 January 2006 (Hogan to HP Software); Vignette 8-K, February 2006 (Aviles CEO from 13 February 2006).
- Vignette Form 10-K for 2008, filed March 2009 - revenue 2004-2008, net income, 643 employees, competitors IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and SAP, licence revenue down 38%.
- InformationWeek / Interwoven filings - Autonomy to buy Interwoven, about $775m, 21 January 2009.
- Open Text, 'Open Text to Acquire Vignette', 6 May 2009 - $8.00 cash plus 0.1447 Open Text share; ~$12.70; ~$310m; ~41% premium.
- Jeff Potts, ECM Architect, 'OpenText administers Vignette mercy killing', 6 May 2009.
- Open Text, 'Open Text Completes Vignette Acquisition', 21 July 2009 - about $321m at $36.84 an Open Text share.
- Real Story Group, 'Vignette RIP 1995 - 2011 -- and what that means for you', 27 April 2011 - version 8.1, renamed OpenText Web Experience Management; OpenText brand page 'Vignette' (Portal to OpenText Portal).
- OpenText Form 8-K exhibits, 6 August 2026 (fiscal 2026 revenue $5.246bn) and 23 September 2026 (pricing of $500m 6.700% notes due 2031 and $500m 7.150% notes due 2033; tender offer for up to $450m of 3.875% notes due 2028).
Not regulated financial advice.