Private company · employee equity guide

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What is Substack stock worth?

Substack is a new media app that connects you with the creators, ideas, and communities you care about most. Founded in 2017, Substack is building a new economic engine for culture by putting publishers in charge and enabling subscribers to support the work they deeply value.There are more than 5 million paid subscriptions to writers and creators across the Substack network.

Estimated share price

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Substack has an observed estimated price: most recent data 2026-09-14, daily history back to 2025-01-03.

Estimated from live trades and accepted bids across employer liquidity programs, institutional trades, broker trades, and pre-IPO marketplaces. Private shares are illiquid and transfer-restricted; estimates are educational, not an offer or advice. The preview above is blurred and illustrative. How this is calculated

About Substack

Employees
3,940
Founded
2017
Industry
Online Audio and Video Media, Internet Publishing, Information Services
Website
substack.com

Weighing a Substack offer?

Upload the offer letter to see what the equity is approximately worth at today's estimated price. No account needed.

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Leaving Substack? Mind the window.

If you hold options, leaving usually starts a post-termination exercise clock, often 90 days. Miss it and vested options can expire worthless; exercise blindly and you may owe real money (including possible AMT) on shares you can't yet sell. Neither panic nor autopilot is a plan. Knowing your window, your exercise cost, and the current estimated price is.

Track my window freeUpload your grant doc. We extract the window and set the reminders.

Substack in the last 12 months

  • 1 lawsuit or investigation
  • 1 product launch

Covered by 18 distinct publications since 2026-07-20.

Who founded Substack

Chris Best, Hamish McKenzie, Noa Rakel Perugia, Sarah Cucchiara, Eedha Kaul, Mariana Neves

Substack news timeline

Reported before Substack’s latest mark

A mark records a completed transaction, so it reflects what buyers and sellers knew several weeks before it printed. These stories were published in that window. They are shown in sequence, not as an explanation of the mark.

Substack equity, answered plainly

Is Substack a public company?

No. Substack is privately held, which is exactly why its share price doesn't show up in your brokerage app. The company (founded in 2017, operating in online audio and video media, with roughly 3,940 employees) remains private even at that scale. Its shares still change hands between eligible buyers and sellers on the secondary market, producing an observable estimated price.

What is Substack's stock price?

Substack has an observed estimated share price from secondary-market activity, updated as new data is observed. Its observed price history runs back to 2025-01-03. ExitCue members see the current estimate and its full history free, along with what their own grants are approximately worth at that price.

Can you sell Substack stock before an IPO?

Sometimes. Private-share sales depend on Substack's transfer restrictions, rights of first refusal, and whether the company runs tender offers or permits secondary sales. Your grant documents and the company's policies govern, but "hard to sell today" is not the same as "worth zero."

What happens to my Substack options if I leave?

Most option grants have a post-termination exercise window, commonly 90 days, sometimes longer, after which unexercised options expire worthless. The exact terms are in your grant documents. ExitCue reads those documents, tracks the deadline, and reminds you before the window closes.

How much is my Substack equity worth?

Multiply what you hold by the estimated share price, separating vested from unvested, and netting out strike prices for options. That's precisely the arithmetic ExitCue does for you, continuously, at the current observed estimate. It's an educational estimate, not a guarantee, and a far better anchor than the $0 the internet suggests.

What's the difference between Substack's 409A valuation and what its shares trade at?

The 409A is a tax-compliance appraisal, usually conservative, used to set option strike prices. Secondary-market pricing reflects what buyers and sellers actually agree to. The two frequently differ, which is why evaluating an offer on the 409A alone undersells (or oversells) it.

When will Substack IPO?

Unless Substack has publicly announced a listing, nobody knows, including the people who sound confident on forums. The practical upside of secondary markets is that you don't have to wait for an IPO to know approximately what the shares trade at.

Do my unvested Substack RSUs count for anything?

Unvested equity isn't yours yet, but it has an estimable value and a schedule. Seeing vested and unvested value separately, in dollars at the current estimated price, turns "some RSUs" into a number you can plan around.

General educational information, not advice about your specific situation. Grant terms vary; your documents govern.

Work out what your Substack equity is worth

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