Bill.com

BILL Holdings, Inc. is an American company based in San Jose, California, that provides automated, cloud-based software for financial operations for small businesses in the United States.[3][4][5] A white-labeled, end-to-end payments automation platform, Bill.com Connect is offered to financial institutions as part of their single sign-on online business banking ecosystem.[3]

History

2004-2010

René Lacerte, who co-founded and led an online payroll software startup PayCycle, stepped down as its CEO in November 2004 per the decision of the Board. Lacerte soon started working on his next company, which eventually became Bill.com.[6] Founded in April 2006 as Cashboard, Inc.,[1] the company enables small businesses to pay their bills and keep their books in the cloud. Its early investors included August Capital and DCM Ventures.[6]

2019-2025

In October 2019, Bill.com started offering new capabilities to help companies automate their AP/AR functions.[7]

Bill.com completed its initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange in December 2019.[8][9] In early 2020, Bill.com moved its headquarters from Palo Alto to San Jose, California.[5]

In June 2021, Bill.com acquired Divvy for $2.5 billion, an expense management company that modernizes small business finances by combining software and corporate smart cards into a single platform. Later that September, the company closed the acquisition of Invoice2go for $625 million, an AR mobile-first company, extending the company's reach to serve sole proprietors.[10][11][12]

In 2025, the hedge fund Elliott Management was reported to have acquired a large stake in Bill Holdings.[13] Elliott was reported to own roughly 5% of the company.[14] Activist investor Starboard Value had also acquired an 8.5% stake in BILL Holdings, with reports it intended to push for changes.[15] In early 2025, Starboard and the company Autodesk reached a settlement to add two independent directors to the BILL board, while in March, Kenvue agreed to add three directors to the board. Starboard nominated four to the BILL Holdings board in September 2025, with four of BILL's 12 directors standing for election at the upcoming annual meeting.[16] In September 2025, BILL Holdings had a market value of around $5 billion.[17]

In November 2025, Bloomberg reported that BILL Holdings was exploring strategic options including a potential sale, amid pressure from activist investors Starboard Value and Elliott Management.[18] In December 2025, activist investor Barington Capital also disclosed a stake and urged the board to consider a sale.[19] By February 2026, Hellman & Friedman was reported to be in talks for a potential buyout.[20]

References

  1. Bill.com Holdings, Inc. Form S-1 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 15 November 2019^
  2. Bill.com Holdings, Inc. FY 2024 Annual Report (Form 10-K) U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 23 August 2024^
  3. When Distribution Trumps Product 24 February 2020^
  4. Bill.com to Report Second Quarter Fiscal 2022 Financial Results on February 3, 2022 www.wsj.com, retrieved 2022-02-10^
  5. Bill.com, fresh from IPO, will shift headquarters to San Jose The Mercury News, 2020-01-10, retrieved 2022-02-10^
  6. Jeff Kauflin. How Bill.com, The Boring Bookkeeper Of Fintech, Became One Of 2020's Hottest Stocks Forbes, 7 December 2020^
  7. PYMNTS. Bill.com Enhances AR With AP In Platform Update www.pymnts.com, 2019-10-17, retrieved 2021-03-14^
  8. Emily Bary. Bill.com stock surges 60% after IPO in a sign that the software market is still hot MarketWatch, retrieved 2022-02-10^
  9. Telis Demos. Bill.com IPO Is Worth the Tab The Wall Street Journal, 9 December 2019^
  10. Matthew Heller. Bill.Com Buys Invoice2go to Boost AR Offerings CFO, 26 July 2021^
  11. Bill.com CEO touts small and medium business opportunity CNBC, 15 November 2021^
  12. Alex Wilhelm. Why did Bill.com pay $2.5B for Divvy? TechCrunch, 6 May 2021^
  13. https://www.ft.com/content/327ee115-f0d6-4641-9e12-e73cb01cdf3c^
  14. Svea Herbst-Bayliss. Elliott takes stake in BILL Holdings, becoming second activist in stock reuters.com, Reuters, September 9, 2025^
  15. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/starboard-built-big-stake-bill-holdings-plans-nominate-directors-2025-09-04/^
  16. Svea Herbst-Bayliss. Exclusive: Starboard nominates four to BILL Holdings board, including partner Peter Feld, sources say reuters.com, Reuters, 8 September 2025^
  17. Svea Herbst-Bayliss. Exclusive: Starboard built big stake in BILL Holdings, plans to nominate directors reuters.com, Reuters, 4 September 2025^
  18. Business Payments Firm Bill Holdings Is Said to Explore Sale Bloomberg, November 11, 2025, retrieved 2026-03-22^
  19. Activist Barington Targets Bill Holdings, Pushes for Sale Bloomberg, December 4, 2025, retrieved 2026-03-22^
  20. H&F Said In Talks for Buyout of Payments Firm Bill Holdings Bloomberg, February 6, 2026, retrieved 2026-03-22^