Pluralsight
- 🦄Became a unicorn2017
- 📈Peak valuation$3.5 Billion ’21
- 💔Became a Unitard2024
- 💸Last valuation~$0
How it happened
Pluralsight sells online courses and skill assessments that train software developers and IT teams. It went public in 2018 and was taken private by Vista Equity Partners in a $3.5B deal in 2021; its ~$1.3B of buyout debt, priced at low pandemic-era rates, grew unserviceable as rates rose. In Q1 2024 Vista wrote its equity to zero and creditors led by Blue Owl and Ares took control, wiping out roughly $4B Vista and co-investors had put in. Glassdoor reviews trace the squeeze under Vista: employees pointed to a roughly 400-person layoff two weeks before Christmas 2022 — with U.S. engineering roles re-posted in India within days — then a 2023 round, frozen raises and thinner benefits.
Employee accounts paraphrase anonymous, unverified reviews posted publicly on Glassdoor ↗. See our methodology.
Mutual-fund markdowns
4 funds · SEC NPORT-PHow U.S. mutual funds fair-value this still-private company in their quarterly SEC filings.
| Fund | Class | $/sh | From peak | As of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BlackRock Credit Strategies Fund | $0.91 | -67% | Sep 2025 | |
| Oaktree Diversified Income Fund Inc. | $0.98 | -2% | Mar 2026 | |
| CION Ares Diversified Credit Fund | $1.00 | +0% | Mar 2026 | |
| BlackRock HPS Credit Strategies Fund | $1.00 | +0% | Mar 2026 |
Source: SEC EDGAR Form NPORT-P (Level-3 fair-value marks). Per-share marks reflect the fund’s own valuation of a specific share class and aren’t a company-wide valuation. Last refreshed Jun 2026.
Source: Axios; Reuters; Private Equity Wire