Snowflake Inc. (SNOW): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money

Ever wondered how businesses are harnessing the power of data in the cloud? Snowflake Inc., a leading cloud-based data storage company, might just be the answer. With over 10,618 customers as of November 2024 and processing 4.2 billion daily queries, what makes Snowflake so crucial in today's data-driven world? Keep reading to discover its history, ownership, mission, and how it works and makes money.

Snowflake Inc. (SNOW) History

Snowflake's Founding Timeline

Year established

The company was established in July 2012.

Original location

The original location of the company was in San Mateo, California.

Founding team members

The founding team members were:

• Michael Green
• Benoit Dageville
• Thierry Cruanes

Later, Marcin Zukowski joined the founding team.

Initial capital/funding

The initial funding for the company came from Sutter Hill Ventures in 2012.

Snowflake's Evolution Milestones

Snowflake's Transformative Moments

• Multi-Cloud Strategy: The decision to operate across multiple cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud) was transformative, providing customers with flexibility and avoiding vendor lock-in.
• Focus on Data Sharing: The emphasis on secure data sharing and collaboration capabilities allowed organizations to create data networks, fostering new business opportunities.
• Product Diversification: Expanding from a data warehouse to a broader data cloud with services like Unistore and support for various data workloads has expanded its market and appeal.
• Leadership Changes: Several key leadership changes have marked significant shifts in strategy and execution. Frank Slootman's appointment as CEO in 2019, replacing Bob Muglia, brought a focus on execution and efficiency, leading up to the successful IPO in 2020. More recently, Sridhar Ramaswamy took over as CEO in February 2024, signaling a renewed emphasis on AI and innovation.

For more detailed insights into the company's financial performance, see: Breaking Down Snowflake Inc. (SNOW) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors

Snowflake Inc. (SNOW) Ownership Structure

Understanding the ownership structure of Snowflake Inc. provides insights into who controls the company and whose interests might be prioritized. The ownership is distributed among institutional investors, company insiders, and the public.

Snowflake Inc.'s Current Status

Snowflake Inc. is a public company, trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol SNOW. As a publicly traded entity, its shares are available for purchase by anyone, leading to a diverse ownership base.

Snowflake Inc.'s Ownership Breakdown

The ownership of Snowflake Inc. is distributed among various types of shareholders. Here's a breakdown:

Institutional investors are the primary owners of Snowflake Inc. as of April 2025. These entities manage large sums of money on behalf of their clients and have a significant influence on the stock's price and the company's governance. The presence of company insiders in the ownership structure ensures that those leading the company have a vested interest in its success. Access more details about the company's financial well-being: Breaking Down Snowflake Inc. (SNOW) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

Snowflake Inc.'s Leadership

Snowflake Inc. is guided by a team of experienced leaders. As of April 2025, key figures include:

• Frank Slootman: Chairman of the Board
• Sridhar Ramaswamy: Chief Executive Officer
• Deniz Olgun: Chief Financial Officer

This team is responsible for setting the strategic direction of the company, overseeing its operations, and ensuring it meets its financial goals.

Snowflake Inc. (SNOW) Mission and Values

Snowflake's mission is to mobilize the world’s data, and its core values emphasize customer focus, innovation, and integrity. These principles guide the company's operations and strategic decisions.

Snowflake's Core Purpose

Official mission statement

Snowflake’s mission statement is: To mobilize the world’s data.

• This statement reflects Snowflake's aim to break down data silos and make data accessible across different platforms and organizations.
• By mobilizing data, Snowflake seeks to enable better decision-making, drive innovation, and unlock new opportunities for its customers.

Vision statement

While Snowflake doesn't have a single, official vision statement, their focus is on providing a platform that enables every organization to be data-driven. This involves:

• Data Accessibility: Ensuring that data is readily available and easily accessible to all users, regardless of their technical expertise.
• Scalability: Offering a platform that can scale to meet the growing data needs of organizations, from small businesses to large enterprises.
• Data Security: Providing robust security measures to protect data from unauthorized access and cyber threats.
• Innovation: Continuously innovating and adding new features to the platform to meet the evolving needs of its customers.

Company slogan/tagline

Snowflake uses several taglines and slogans that highlight different aspects of its platform. These include:

• The Data Cloud: This tagline emphasizes Snowflake's vision of a world where data is seamlessly connected across different organizations and platforms.
• Powered by Snowflake: This slogan highlights the ability of Snowflake's platform to drive innovation and power data-driven applications.
• Limitless Data Possibilities: Captures the expansive potential of leveraging Snowflake for diverse data applications.

For more in-depth information, you can check this link: Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Snowflake Inc. (SNOW).

Snowflake Inc. (SNOW) How It Works

Snowflake operates as a cloud-based data platform, providing data warehousing, data lake, data engineering, data science, data application development, and secure data sharing. It enables organizations to consolidate data into a single source for various analytics and data processing needs.

Snowflake's Product/Service Portfolio

Snowflake's Operational Framework

Snowflake’s operational framework is built around a multi-cluster, shared data architecture. Here’s how it generally works:

• Data Ingestion: Data from various sources (databases, applications, cloud storage) is ingested into Snowflake.
• Cloud Storage: Snowflake stores data in a columnar format within cloud storage (Amazon S3, Azure Blob Storage, or Google Cloud Storage).
• Virtual Warehouses: Compute resources, known as virtual warehouses, are used to process and analyze data. These warehouses can be scaled up or down on demand.
• Query Processing: When a query is executed, Snowflake's query optimizer determines the most efficient execution plan. Virtual warehouses process the query, and the results are returned to the user.
• Data Sharing: Snowflake enables secure data sharing between organizations without the need for data replication.

For more insights into Snowflake's core values, check out this link: Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Snowflake Inc. (SNOW).

Snowflake's Strategic Advantages

• Scalability and Elasticity: Snowflake can scale compute and storage resources independently, allowing organizations to handle varying workloads and data volumes.
• Multi-Cloud Support: Snowflake operates across multiple cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud), providing flexibility and avoiding vendor lock-in.
• Data Sharing Capabilities: Secure and governed data sharing enables organizations to collaborate and monetize their data assets.
• Ease of Use: Snowflake's SQL interface and user-friendly tools simplify data management and analytics.
• Performance: Snowflake's architecture and query optimization techniques deliver fast query performance, even on large datasets.

Snowflake Inc. (SNOW) How It Makes Money

Snowflake primarily generates revenue by providing a cloud-based data platform that allows customers to store, process, and analyze large volumes of data. They operate on a consumption-based model, where customers are charged based on the amount of compute, storage, and data transfer resources they use.

Snowflake's Revenue Breakdown

Snowflake's Business Economics

Snowflake's business economics are driven by its consumption-based pricing model and its ability to scale efficiently in the cloud. Key aspects include:

• Consumption-Based Model: Customers pay only for the resources they consume, offering flexibility and cost-effectiveness. This model aligns Snowflake’s revenue directly with customer usage and value derived from the platform.
• Gross Margin: Snowflake boasts a high gross margin, reflecting the scalability of its cloud-native architecture and efficient resource management. As of fiscal year 2024, Snowflake's product gross margin was approximately 75%.
• Net Revenue Retention Rate: A critical metric for SaaS businesses, Snowflake's net revenue retention rate indicates the expansion of existing customer usage. As of fiscal year 2024, Snowflake's net revenue retention rate was 131%, demonstrating strong customer loyalty and growth.
• Operating Leverage: As Snowflake scales, it benefits from operating leverage, where operating expenses grow at a slower rate than revenue. This leads to improved profitability and efficiency over time.

Snowflake's Financial Performance

Snowflake's financial performance reflects its rapid growth and increasing market adoption. Key highlights include:

• Revenue Growth: Snowflake has demonstrated significant revenue growth, driven by new customer acquisition and expansion within existing accounts. For the fiscal year 2024, Snowflake's product revenue was $2.68 billion, representing a year-over-year growth of 38%.
• Remaining Performance Obligations (RPO): RPO represents the contracted revenue that has not yet been recognized. As of fiscal year 2024, Snowflake's RPO was $5.2 billion, indicating strong future revenue visibility.
• Customer Growth: Snowflake continues to expand its customer base, attracting organizations of all sizes across various industries. As of fiscal year 2024, Snowflake had 9,437 customers.
• Profitability: While still investing in growth, Snowflake is focused on improving profitability. The company is targeting long-term operating margin improvement through increased scale and operational efficiencies.

To gain more insights into Snowflake's core values and strategic direction, check out: Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Snowflake Inc. (SNOW).

Snowflake Inc. (SNOW) Market Position & Future Outlook

Snowflake is recognized as a leading cloud-based data warehousing company, distinguished by its architecture that separates storage and compute functions, offering flexibility and scalability. The company's support for multi-cloud environments and robust data sharing capabilities have solidified its position as a popular choice for businesses. As of early 2025, Snowflake continues to innovate and expand its capabilities in AI and data collaboration, positioning itself for sustained growth and market leadership.

Competitive Landscape

Opportunities & Challenges

Industry Position

Snowflake has been recognized as the Database Management System of the Year 2024 by DB-Engines, marking the third time it has claimed the top spot. The company's innovative approach to data warehousing, which separates storage and compute, provides unmatched scalability and flexibility. Snowflake's platform supports various data formats and offers advanced data processing and analytics features, making it a popular choice across businesses of all sizes.

• Leader in Cloud Data Warehousing: Snowflake continues to lead in cloud data warehousing due to its scalable and flexible architecture.
• Strategic Partnerships: Collaborations with companies like Nvidia enhance AI capabilities.
• Focus on Innovation: Commitment to technological innovation and expanding capabilities in the data cloud industry, with a strong emphasis on AI and machine learning.