Front Page Blog: A h*ck of a lot! iStock contributors make $21 Million in 2007

iStockphoto has been an amazing place to learn, share, work, and grow since 2000. Everyone here at HQ is grateful for the bond we have with our contributors and customers. iStockers around the globe approach us at trade shows and iStockalypses, excitedly trying to explain how iStock has changed their lives or saved their bacon. We get hugs from people we don't even know. That's extremely powerful.

We have tried to be as open with the community as we possibly could, but one thing we've always had to keep close to our chest is our financials. Maybe it's our Canadian background, but we've always found it a bit cheeky and rude to discuss money. In the early days, we kept quiet for obvious competitive reasons. After the Getty Images acquisition, it was because we were part of a public company. With the recent announcement that Getty Images is going to be a private company owned by management, employees and Hellman & Friedman, you'll see lots of numbers floating around about iStock's financials, and lots of industry hub-bub about what it all means.

For the first time ever, we're breaking our long-standing silence on the numbers and giving you a few facts and figures. There is one number that makes us most proud, and it's not the $71.9 million in revenue we generated last year (although that is really, really exciting). The amazing thing is that we paid out $20.9 million to contributors last year. That's one h*ck of a lot of money, and doesn't include the $110,000 we gave out on Punctum Day. We are now selling an image every 1.4 seconds through this industry changing marketplace. It even gives us pause every time we look at these stats.

That our revenue and payouts have eclipsed those of many traditional stock photography companies confirms that microstock is a viable and profitable business model for contributors and clients. We wanted to share the sheer scale of how viable and profitable we've all become together. The supercharged growth we had in 2007 was orchestrated by an astounding management team that helped make iStockphoto the envy of the industry. That same iStock/Getty team is sticking together and adding some new faces to help execute on all the new super-wicked stuff we have coming this year.

We've truly created a product that is loved by everyone. Long live the designer's dirty little secret.

** On a personal note, I want to thank everyone at HQ and inspectors/admins, who has made this all look so easy for the last 8 years, making me look good and letting me take all the credit. You're all superstars.

Posted By rogermexico:
BYE!

Posted By sjlocke:


Now, I just woke up. Bye ?

Posted By rogermexico:
Stupid misleading acronyms. What I meant was Best Year Ever!