International Data Group

History

International Data Corporation was founded in 1964 by Patrick Joseph McGovern, who sold his car to fund its startup. Based in Massachusetts, the company produced a computer installation data base (based on a customer list purloined from IBM), and published a newsletter, "EDP Industry and Market Report" (modeled on "ADP Newsletter", which was published by The Diebold Group. Companies such as RCA, Univac, Xerox, and Burroughs paid IDC for use of the data base. During this time, McGovern continued to work as a writer for "Computers and Automation" magazine, the first computer magazine, published by Edmund Berkeley.

By its third year, the company had an income of $154,996. A modest net profit of $2,961.^[7] McGovern was considering liquidating the company when he hit on the idea of launching Computerworld in 1967, which was a continuation of the monthly newsletter, published weekly instead of monthly, in a different format, with advertising, which became a cornerstone of IDG's subsequent publishing arm.^[7] McGovern subsequently founded PC World.

IDG Books, which was a public company spun off from the privately held IDG, published the popular self-help "...For Dummies" books. The "...For Dummies" range was originally limited to computer related fields, but later expanded to include a much wider variety of topics.^[8] The series is now published by John Wiley & Sons.^[9] IDG Books/Hungry Minds — as IDG Books was briefly renamed before being sold to Wiley in 2001, it no longer exists as a separate company.^[8] In 2010, IDG introduced the "Nanosite", an advertising tool designed as an alternative to a microsite.^[10]

Following McGovern's death in March 2014, ownership of the corporation passed to the McGovern Foundation, with several layoffs occurring as a result.^[11] In January 2017, following IDG's announcement that it was searching for a buyer, it was acquired by China Oceanwide Holdings Group.^{[11][12][13][14]} Later that year a second round of layoffs occurred, including up to ninety editors and writers from IDG's consumer and enterprise publications.^[15] In August 2019, Mohamad Ali was named as Global CEO of IDG. Prior to joining IDG, Ali held the positions of President and CEO of Carbonite and Chief Strategy Officer of Hewlett-Packard.^[16]

In February 2020, IDG discontinued Webwereld. In June 2020, IDG retired their JavaWorld brand, migrating its content to InfoWorld.^[17]

In May 2021, The Blackstone Group acquired IDG from China Oceanwide Holdings Group for $1.3 billion. ^[18]

Businesses

IDG has "approximately^[2][19] 300 technology publications worldwide" and its own international news agency, IDG News Service,^[20] headquartered in Boston,^[20] with bureaus in cities such as New York, Beijing, Amsterdam and Brussels.^[21]

IDG Connect produces, publishes and distributes local IT and business information. Founded in 2006, it has offices in Framingham, Massachusetts, US, and Staines, Middlesex, UK, and offers lead generation,^[22] research,^[23] video, mobile apps, "lead nurturing"^[24] and content creation.^[25]

In June 2020, IDG Communications acquired Triblio, the leading ABM platform, building a new phase of martech in B2B at the intersection of media and marketing technology.

San Francisco-based IDG Ventures USA, founded in 1996, invested in operations based in North America (U.S.), South Asia (India), Southeast Asia (Vietnam), and East Asia (China and South Korea).^[26] Shortly thereafter it became Ridge Ventures.^[27][28] IDG Ventures is an international network of venture capital funds with approximately $3.6 billion under management, and over 220 companies formed over the last 17 years. The IDG Ventures network comprises five independent partnerships managing funds in the regions above. Each partnership makes investments on behalf of its limited partners, including IDG.^[29]

References