--- title: "Who controls AppLovin: share classes and major holders" language: en canonical: https://dossiertwist.com/dossiers/applovin-corp/ownership/ as_of: 2026-10-16 keywords: ["AppLovin","Adam Foroughi","Herald Chen","KKR Denali","Voting Agreement","Angel Pride Holdings","Hontai App Fund","Orient Hontai","Hao Tang","Midterm Success","Adjust","Machine Zone","Tripledot","MoPub","Culper Research","Muddy Waters Research","Fuzzy Panda Research","securities class action","The Privacy Collective","Hart-Scott-Rodino Act"] --- # Who controls AppLovin: share classes and major holders **Question.** How is control of AppLovin exercised, and how have its major holdings changed since the 2021 IPO? **Answer.** Class B shares carry 20 votes each and are held only by Adam Foroughi and Herald Chen with their trusts, who vote all their shares together under a Voting Agreement: 66.9% of the votes in March 2026. Until 2024 KKR Denali was the third party to the agreement and the largest holder. Hontai App Fund, the co-founders John Krystynak and Andrew Karam, Vanguard, BlackRock and Angel Pride Holdings have each appeared among holders above 5%. ## Share classes and the Voting Agreement - Analysis: AppLovin has three classes of common stock: Class A with one vote, Class B with 20 votes and Class C, none of which is outstanding, without votes except where the law requires. The 2026 proxy statement counts 306,086,916 Class A and 30,207,521 Class B shares on March 31, 2026. At the end of 2025 there were about 32 holders of record of Class A and 8 of Class B, and all Class B shares were held by Adam Foroughi and Herald Chen with certain affiliated trusts. [src-001] [src-002] - Analysis: At the April 2021 IPO the Class B shares were held by Foroughi, Chen and KKR Denali Holdings L.P., together 93.4% of the votes; their Voting Agreement had all Class B shares voted as two of the three decided, one of whom had to be Foroughi. Today Foroughi and Chen alone are parties: the proxy attributes 66.9% of the votes to the shares under the agreement, enough to decide director elections, charter amendments and major transactions. AppLovin is a "controlled company" under Nasdaq rules but says it does not rely on the related exemptions. [src-006] [src-001] ## Foroughi's and Chen's stakes - Analysis: On March 31, 2026 Foroughi owned 2,420,296 Class A and 27,936,907 Class B shares, 92.5% of the class and 61.6% of all votes; Chen owned 446,209 Class A and 697,668 Class B shares, 1.6% of the votes, down from 2,397,668 Class B shares in the 2025 proxy. Form 4 filings show Chen converting 143,791 Class B shares and giving away 100,000 Class A shares in August 2026, and Foroughi holding 2,324,954 Class A shares directly that month. In his Schedule 13G amendment for September 30, 2024 Foroughi reported 3,885,217 Class A and 27,936,907 Class B shares, and a group with Chen and KKR Denali of 12.8% of Class A on an as-converted basis. [src-001] [src-041] [src-027] [src-028] [src-039] - Analysis: John Krystynak and Andrew Karam co-founded AppLovin with Foroughi. Before the IPO they held 13.0% and 11.8% of the Class A shares and were registered with the SEC as 10% owners, not as directors or officers; by March 2023 their stakes were 7.0% and 6.7%, and Karam reported 4.4% at September 30, 2024. [src-006] [src-029] [src-095] [src-096] [src-010] [src-052] - Documented: John Krystynak and Andrew Karam, who co-founded AppLovin with Adam Foroughi, held 24,062,858 (13.0%) and 21,957,897 (11.8%) Class A shares before the IPO and were registered with the SEC from April 14, 2021 in the capacity of 10% owners, not as directors or officers. Their stakes fell to 7.0% and 6.7% by March 2023, and Karam's Schedule 13G amendment for September 30, 2024 reported 13,136,250 shares (4.4%). [src-006] [src-029] [src-095] [src-096] [src-010] [src-052] - Qualification: Karam's 2024 figure comes from an aggregator listing of the Schedule 13G filing. ## Holders above 5% over time - Analysis: The IPO prospectus also listed Nimble Ventures (6.2%) and director Eduardo Vivas (5.9%) above 5% of Class A. In March 2022 KKR Denali held 44.8% of the votes, Foroughi 29.9% and Chen 4.8%; Hontai App Fund (8.8%), Krystynak (7.8%), Karam (7.1%) and The Vanguard Group (5.2%) held more than 5% of Class A. A year later KKR Denali had 48.7% of the votes and Foroughi 32.4%, with Hontai App Fund (8.7%), Krystynak (7.0%), Karam (6.7%) and Vanguard (5.3%) above 5% of Class A. [src-006] [src-056] [src-010] - Analysis: Angel Pride Holdings, which held 14.0% before the IPO and reported 7.7% at the end of 2023 in its own filing, is absent from the 2022 and 2023 proxy tables and reappears in 2025 and 2026 at 5.6%. In March 2025 Foroughi had 60.9% of the votes and Chen 5.1%; BlackRock and Vanguard each held 5.4% of Class A, while Midterm Success and Hao Tang were not listed. The 2026 proxy lists Vanguard (8.2%), BlackRock (7.0%) and Angel Pride (5.6%); later filings show Vanguard reporting no shares as of March 13, 2026 and Vanguard Capital Management (6.29%) and FMR LLC (5.1%) reporting new positions as of March 31, 2026. [src-056] [src-010] [src-018] [src-041] [src-001] [src-006] [src-016] - Documented: AppLovin's proxy statements for 2022 and 2023, which list holders above 5% as of March 31 of each year, do not include Angel Pride Holdings Limited, although Angel Pride held 14.0% before the 2021 IPO and reported 7.7% as of December 31, 2023 in its own filing. The 2025 and 2026 proxies list it again, at 5.6%. [src-056] [src-010] [src-018] [src-041] [src-001] [src-006] - Qualification: The proxy tables and Angel Pride's own filings are dated differently, and the record does not show Angel Pride's exact holding on March 31, 2022 or 2023. - Documented: Listings of later Schedule 13G filings show The Vanguard Group reporting no AppLovin shares as of March 13, 2026, Vanguard Capital Management reporting a new position of 19,337,914 Class A shares (6.29%) and FMR LLC one of 15,691,414 shares (5.1%), both as of March 31, 2026. [src-016] - Qualification: Read in two aggregator listings of SEC filings; the filings themselves are not retained in the record, and the 2026 proxy still relies on Vanguard's October 2025 filing. ## Directors' holdings - Analysis: Among other insiders, Eduardo Vivas held 6,963,289 Class A shares (2.3%) and Vasily Shikin 3,805,555 (1.2%, including options) on March 31, 2026; shares counted for Margaret Georgiadis and Maynard Webb are held by Blue Sage Partners, LLC and Webb Investment Network LLC, with voting power shared with a spouse. In May 2025 Vivas entered into a prepaid variable forward contract, received $131,099,760 and pledged 550,000 Class A shares for settlement in May 2027. [src-001] [src-094] [src-030] ## Sources - [src-001] AppLovin Corporation proxy statement for the 2026 annual meeting (Schedule 14A), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 2026-04-20 - [src-002] AppLovin Corporation annual report on Form 10-K for 2025, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 2026 - [src-006] AppLovin Corporation IPO prospectus (Form 424(b)(4)), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 2021-04-15 - [src-041] AppLovin Corporation proxy statement for the 2025 annual meeting, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 2025 - [src-027] SEC insider register page for Herald Y. Chen, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR insider register), 2026-10-16 - [src-028] SEC insider register page for Arash Adam Foroughi, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR insider register), 2026-10-16 - [src-039] Schedule 13G amendment by Prominence Trust Limited and Angel Pride Holdings Limited (October 2024), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 2024-10 - [src-029] SEC insider register page for AppLovin Corp as issuer, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR insider register), 2026-10-16 - [src-095] SEC insider register page for John Krystynak, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR insider register), 2026-10-16 - [src-096] SEC insider register page for Andrew Karam, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR insider register), 2026-10-16 - [src-010] AppLovin Corporation proxy statement for the 2023 annual meeting, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 2023 - [src-052] AppLovin Corporation Investors' Rights Agreement of August 15, 2018 (Exhibit 4.2), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 2018-08-15 - [src-056] AppLovin Corporation proxy statement for the 2022 annual meeting, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 2022 - [src-018] Schedule 13G amendment by Angel Pride Holdings Limited and Ling Tang (February 2024), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 2024-02 - [src-016] Other source ยท src-016 - [src-094] Form 4 filed by Eduardo Vivas (May 2025), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 2025-05-14 - [src-030] SEC insider register page for Eduardo Vivas, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR insider register), 2026-10-16