Social Chain AG announces that after six years at the helm of the company, Steven Bartlett, CEO and Co-founder, and Dominic McGregor, Co-founder will be stepping down from their positions.
Steven and Dominic founded Social Chain in Manchester in 2014 with the aim of creating a social media publishing and marketing company that would disrupt the traditional marketing industry at a time when social media was undervalued and untapped. Social Chain is now a global social media, marketing and ecommerce business, achieving an owned media reach of over 2 billion views per month and working with world leading brands like Amazon, Coca Cola and Apple.
The company currently has around 750 employees with locations in Manchester, Berlin, London, New York and Munich. In October 2019, Social Chain merged with Lumaland AG to form The Social Chain AG and list on XETRA and the Düsseldorf Stock Exchange. The company recently announced the largest acquisition in its history as it prepares to take a 51 percent majority stake in A4D Inc and posted a forecast of €200m for 2020.
Steven Bartlett says: “Social Chain was conceived on a small desk in the backroom of the uni I had just dropped out of in Manchester. I was 20, full of wild dreams, and I believed we could take on the world.
What started as a crazy and sometimes ridiculed idea, in the mind of a few drop-out underdogs, at a time when people didn’t believe in the potential of this new thing called social media, turned into the most unforgettable ride of a lifetime.
As I write this, at 27, we have more than 700 Social Chainers around the world, a world-beating team, we went public last year, we are the best at what we do, and we’ve just posted record numbers. The company is showing unbelievable momentum and I remain Social Chain’s biggest fan, supporter, and believer.
I owe an unpayable debt of gratitude to my team, past and present. If it wasn’t for you (and mum and dad), I would be nothing. As a fairly public CEO, I’ve unavoidably taken an unfair amount of credit for what we achieved together.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart, and thank you to all of you that have supported and believed in me.”
Dominic McGregor says: “I’m incredibly proud of everything that we’ve achieved, the relationships we’ve made and the lessons learnt. I’m so lucky to have shared this journey with the people I have – there’s no doubt in my mind that those lifelong friendships will withstand the test of time.
Social Chain is a very special company, the growth we’ve seen over the last 6 years has been quite frankly phenomenal, we recently posted record numbers, and based on some of the exciting things I’ve seen over the last year, the future promises to be even brighter than the past.
This business has been my rock, even when I faced difficult times in my personal life. The purpose it gave me, and the people I worked with got me through – they gave me something to fight for and without it, and without them, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.
To all our team past and present, clients, investors and anyone who has ever supported us – a personal thank you for everything.”
Wanja S. Oberhof, currently Co-CEO of Social Chain AG will retain his position as CEO.