Elastic co-founder files $141 million share sale just below the street's average target
Elastic director and co-founder Steven Schuurman has filed notice that his vehicle CMXI B.V. proposes to sell 1.5 million shares worth $140.9 million, about 1.4 times everything Elastic insiders sold in three months. The filing lands as banks lift targets and an activist demands $2.5 billion of buybacks at peer Dynatrace.
Vincent Jiang · 2 min read
A co-founder's first block in two years
Steven Schuurman, who co-founded Elastic in Amsterdam in 2012 and still sits on its board, filed notice on 2 October that his vehicle CMXI B.V. proposes to sell 1.5 million Elastic ordinary shares, aggregate market value $140,910,000, through Goldman Sachs, approximate sale date 2 October 123. The stated value works out to $93.94 a share, two cents above that morning's $93.92 open 15.
The cost basis was a tenth of a euro-cent
CMXI acquired 7.29 million of the shares in April 2015, by notarial deed from JTG Ventures B.V., for EUR 7,290 in total: a tenth of a euro-cent each 1. Another 5.19 million came through a December 2020 merger with IXII B.V. for nothing 1. EDGAR lists only two earlier CMXI filings, both Form 144s, in March and December 2024; this is the vehicle's first proposed block in almost two years, and the filing reports no CMXI sales in the prior three months 14.
The insider ledger underneath
Elastic insiders sold 1,075,641 shares for $98,430,566 in the three months to early October, the largest disclosed piece being chief executive Ashutosh Kulkarni's 29,227 shares at $87.78 on 9 September, filed as tax withholding on vesting equity 5. Schuurman's proposed block is worth about 1.4 times that entire ledger 15.
Schuurman's proposed block is 1.4 times everything Elastic insiders sold in three months
Data
| Value of shares sold or proposed | |
|---|---|
| Schuurman proposal | $140.91M |
| All Elastic insiders | $98.43M |
| Kulkarni, largest piece | $2.57M |
The street raised targets into his exit
The filing lands after the quarter that reset the story: revenue of $478.11 million, up 15.2%, $0.70 in EPS against a $0.58 consensus, a raised outlook, and an 18% one-day move; the shares have more than doubled off their $42.05 low to a $108 high 56. September brought a purpose-built vector database, with Elastic claiming a 32x memory reduction 7. Schuurman's implied exit sits below every fresh target except Wells Fargo's $80 5.
Schuurman's implied exit sits below the street's average Elastic target
- Estimate
Data
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Oppenheimer | $118 |
| Bank of America | $108 |
| UBS | $105 |
| Cantor Fitzgerald | $100 |
| Street average | $96.52 |
| CMXI exit (implied) (estimate) | $93.94 |
| Wells Fargo | $80 |
The peer is being pushed the other way
At Dynatrace, Starboard Value's engagement produced two board seats and a $1 billion buyback authorization in July; a letter reported in late September now presses for more than $2.5 billion returned over three years 89. Dynatrace, down about 20% this year, just agreed to pay $915 million for the AI observability firm Arize, saying the deal would not materially touch the buyback 810. One large observability owner wants cash pushed into the stock; Elastic's co-founder is supplying $141 million of his own. A Form 144 records a proposed sale, not a completed one, and states no reason. It does state a price.
Deepdive
AI-generated from this story and its cited sources. Not investment advice.
