Ancestry.com on Wall Street

Some of you may remember the old insurance company slogan, "Buy a piece of the Rock," meaning the Rock of Gibraltar, the company's logo. Well, soon it may be possible to own a piece of the tree -- the family tree, that is. A recent article in the Salt Lake Tribune, "Ancestry.com plans to go public," reported this week that Ancestry.com is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) of company stocks, joining the ranks of other publically owned companies on Wall Street. Formerly known as The Generations Network (earlier than that MyFamily.com and earlier than that, of all things, Ancestry.com), the company has now come full circle with its most recent name change, back to Ancestry.com: the brand, perhaps, having the mind share to carry the company into its public offering.

MyHeritage acquires Kindo and opens operation in London

MyHeritage, a popular family web site, has announced the acquisition of family social network Kindo, according to a report on bizcommunity.com. MyHeritage has more than 25 million members worldwide and is known for its powerful technology that helps families research their history and stay connected, including Smart Matching and automatic photo tagging. The Kindo team's experience in social networking, the article said, will help MyHeritage realize its vision to be the Facebook for families. As part of this acquisition, MyHeritage will also establish new commercial operations in London.

"The Root" - new online magazine for African Americans

Those familiar with the PBS production of African American Lives and the upcoming, African American Lives 2, will also be familiar with host, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. According to an article in the New York Times, "Washington Post Starts an Online Magazine for Blacks," Gates has now teamed up with the Washington Post for a new online magazine entitled, The Root, a magazine "primarily for a black audience, with news and commentary on politics and culture, and tools for readers to research their family histories." Gates will serve as editor in chief. The magazine is free to readers and will be found at www.theroot.com. . . . The Root’s emphasis on genealogy will set it apart from its competitors. The site will have online tools for people to build their family trees, link to or add information to other people's trees and construct maps showing their ancestral trails. It will also urge people to have DNA testing, the article said.

CEO discusses the future of Ancestry.com

If you are interested in "What's next for Ancestry.com, "you may be wish to read Kimberly Powell's Genealogy Blog on About.com, reporting her interview with Tim Sullivan, President and CEO of The Generations Network (TGN). Now that the recent majority buyout of TGN by Spectrum Equity Investors has been announced, Sullivan speaks freely with the media and the genealogy community regarding a wide variety of issues, both past and future.

GenealogyBank Celebrates Anniversary of Launch

www.GenealogyBank.com is one year old this week, and has started a two week celebration by adding a record amount of content - over 4 Million records. Anyone may search this site for FREE and see a portion of the page where the search terms appear. This let's you know if your ancestors are in there - and yes, to see the entire page - you do need to join.

Visit www.GenealogyBank.com

SOLD for $300 Million -- Ancestry.com and sister sites

Definitely a sea change. The Generations Network, which encompasses Ancestry.com, MyFamily.com, RootsWeb.com and other genealogy web sites has been sold, it was announced yesterday. It will no longer be a Utah company -- the new owners, Spectrum Equity Investors are based in Menlo Park and Boston.

According to an article in Marketing Pilgrim, "The Generations Network Aquired for $300 Million," Spectrum, a private equity firm is a shareholder in The Generations Network since 2003. The company’s current management team will continue to lead the company, it says.

WorldVitalRecords CEO earns pretigious award

Announced in a press release today, World Vital Records, Inc.’s CEO, Paul Allen, recently received the Utah Genealogical Association (UGA) Fellow award at the 2007 UGA Annual Genealogical Conference held in Salt Lake City.

“UGA is pleased to present its highest award to Paul Allen. We recognize Allen’s long-time interest in trying to make genealogical information available to the public,” said Neal Southwick, UGA Award Committee Chair. “We applaud Allen’s leadership in the field of making genealogical resources more available on the Internet which affects genealogical enthusiasts worldwide.”

The UGA Fellow award is given annually to one or two living individuals in recognition of their contributions and on-going commitment to the field of genealogy that are major in scope. This may be evidenced by any combination of publications, teaching and speaking, or leadership. This may be evidenced by any combination of publications, teaching and speaking, or leadership.

Allen has made substantial contributions to the field of genealogy. He co-founded Ancestry.com in 1997 and was its first CEO. He also served in several major roles before leaving the company in 2002. Allen is currently the CEO of World Vital Records, Inc., with a goal to provide access to billions of high quality records from all around the world to people who are doing genealogy and family history research. World Vital Records, Inc. also recently launched FamilyLink.com a free, social network for genealogists and families.