Ben Chestnut Net Worth

Ben Chestnut has an estimated net worth of $5 billion, according to Forbes Real-Time Billionaires, Ben Chestnut profile (figures as of October 20, 2026). That is up from $2.1 billion in 2019.

Ben Chestnut is an American internet entrepreneur best known for co-founding Mailchimp with Dan Kurzius. The company began in 2001 as a side project tied to their web design business. Chestnut studied industrial design at Georgia Tech, taught himself how to build websites, and worked at Cox Interactive Media. He later led Mailchimp as CEO and helped grow it into a CRM with 11 million users focused on small businesses.

Chestnut became rich by building Mailchimp without outside investors and then agreeing to a major sale. In 2007, he and Kurzius committed to the business full time after its email marketing software won enough small-business customers. Intuit announced in 2021 that it would acquire Mailchimp in a $12 billion cash and stock deal. At that time, the co-founders each owned 50% of the Atlanta company, which had $800 million in 2020 revenue.

How Ben Chestnut built his wealth

Chestnut made his fortune in technology through email marketing. He and Dan Kurzius launched what later became Mailchimp in 2001 while still running a web design company. The product was built for small businesses, a market Chestnut understood from seeing his mother run a hair salon from the family kitchen in Georgia. As more customers adopted the software, Mailchimp grew from a side project into the main business.

A big reason his wealth became so large was ownership. Chestnut and Kurzius bootstrapped Mailchimp from profits and did not take outside money, which helped them keep control. In 2007, they switched their full attention to the company. That decision paid off in 2021, when Intuit announced a $12 billion acquisition. Because the founders each held 50% of Mailchimp at the announcement, the deal became the main source of Chestnut's billionaire fortune.

Forbes net worth timeline

Forbes began listing Chestnut among the world's billionaires as Mailchimp expanded. Its estimate was $2.1 billion in 2019 and rose to $3 billion in 2021. The jump came as Mailchimp became a major software business for small companies. By the time Intuit announced its purchase, Mailchimp had reached $800 million in 2020 revenue, giving Forbes a clear basis for valuing Chestnut's stake much higher.

The estimate changed after the deal as markets and valuations moved. Forbes put his fortune at $4 billion in 2023. As of October 20, 2026, Forbes' real-time billionaires tracker placed him at $5 billion. Across those years, the source of wealth stayed consistent: Chestnut's ownership in the email marketing company he built with Kurzius, plus the value created when that business was sold to Intuit.