MasterClass

Edtech / online learning streamingUSA

New to Unitard

✂️ Markdown

Peak $2.75 BillionToday

~-92%

from peak

🦄
Became a unicorn
May 2021
📈
Peak valuation
$2.75 Billion ’21
💔
Became a Unitard
2022
💸
Last valuation
~$220M

Current status

Private (legal name Yanka Industries); subscription streaming of celebrity-taught classes; David Rogier remains CEO; no priced round reported since May 2021

The rise & fall

8 moments · 2014–2026

The key moments, with employee sentiment along the way.

Oct 2014

Founded as Yanka Industries by David Rogier and Aaron Rasmussen

Rogier conceives the idea at Stanford; the MasterClass site launches on May 12, 2015, selling video classes taught by famous names.

Wikipedia

May 2020

$100M Series E at $800M$800M

Fidelity leads as lockdowns drive a surge in sign-ups for the all-access subscription.

Global Venturing

May 13 ’21

The peak: $225M Series F at $2.75B$2.75B

Fidelity leads with Baillie Gifford, IVP and NEA, more than tripling the valuation in a year, per sources cited by CNBC. Funds go to an enterprise business and expansion abroad.

Global Venturing

Jun 22 ’22

Cuts 20% of its 600-person staff

CEO David Rogier says the company must adapt to the worsening macro environment and reach self-sustainability faster.

TechCrunch

Jun 30 ’22

Fidelity marks Series F 40% below the round price

Fidelity Advisor Diversified Stock Fund cuts its Series F mark to $19.06 a share from $31.88.

SEC NPORT-P

Dec 31 ’22

Fidelity's mark implies under $1B — joins the Unitard Club 💔$907M

Fidelity marks the Series F at $10.51 a share, 67% below the round price.

SEC NPORT-P

2022–25

From the inside · Glassdoor reviews, 2022–25

Glassdoor ratings fell from 4.4 in 2021 to 2.2 in 2022. Reviewers through 2025 described repeated layoffs and frequent strategy changes; contract content staff let go in 2022 said they had expected permanent roles. Many praised colleagues.

Jun 30 ’26

Series F marked 92% below the round price$208M

Fidelity marks the same 265,105 Series F shares at $2.41; Blue Chip Growth has $2.54 in July, and The Private Shares Fund marks its preferred 86% down.

SEC NPORT-P

Today

Still private — the funds keep marking

The Private Shares Fund marks it at $4.32/share · -86% from its peak mark · as of Jun 2026

SEC NPORT-P

💬 entries paraphrase anonymous, unverified reviews posted publicly on Glassdoor ↗; dated facts carry their source.

How it happened

MasterClass, founded in 2014 as Yanka Industries by David Rogier and Aaron Rasmussen, streams video classes taught by celebrities and famous experts. Lockdown demand drove a $225M Series F led by Fidelity in May 2021 that valued the company at $2.75B, according to sources cited by CNBC.

A year later the company cut 20% of its roughly 600 staff, and later rounds of cuts hit the content team. Mutual-fund filings show Fidelity valued its Series F stake about 92% below the round price by June 30, 2026. The Private Shares Fund marked its preferred shares about 86% down. MasterClass has not announced a priced round since 2021, and Rogier remains chief executive.

Mutual-fund markdowns

10 funds · SEC NPORT-P

How U.S. mutual funds fair-value this still-private company in their quarterly SEC filings.

Per-share mark from peak

-86%

The Private Shares Fund · Series 1 Pref

$31.86 → $4.32

as of Jun 2026

Fund	Class	$/sh	From peak	As of
The Private Shares Fund	Series 1 Pref	$4.32	-86%	Jun 2026
Fidelity Advisor Diversified Stock Fund		$2.41	-65%	Jun 2026
VIP Growth Opportunities Portfolio		$2.41	-46%	Jun 2026
Fidelity Blue Chip Growth K6 Fund		$2.54	-5%	Jul 2026
Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund		$2.54	-5%	Jul 2026
Fidelity Advisor Series Growth Opportunities Fund		$2.41	+0%	May 2026
Fidelity Advisor Growth Opportunities Fund		$2.41	+0%	May 2026
Fidelity Small Cap Growth Fund		$1.50	—	Jul 2026
Fidelity Small Cap Growth K6 Fund		$1.50	—	Jul 2026
Fidelity Founders Fund		$1.50	—	Jul 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 Oct 2026.

Source: Global Venturing (May 14, 2021), citing CNBC sources: $225M Series F led by Fidelity at $2.75B, with Baillie Gifford, IVP, NEA and others, up from $800M at the May 2020 Series E. SEC NPORT-P (Yanka Industries): Fidelity Advisor Diversified Stock Fund marked its 265,105 Series F preferred shares (count unchanged) at the $31.8768 round price on June 30, 2021, $19.06 (June 2022), $10.51 (Dec 2022) and $2.41 on June 30, 2026, a 92% markdown; Fidelity Blue Chip Growth (508,854 Series F shares) $31.8768 (July 2021) to $2.54 (July 2026), 92%; Fidelity's Series E marked $1.42; The Private Shares Fund's Series 1 preferred $31.86 (Sept 2021) to $4.32 (June 2026), 86%. TechCrunch (June 22, 2022): 20% of about 600 staff laid off; Class Central: later cuts to the content team. No priced down round reported.