Cover and table of contents

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019

or

For the transition period from __________ to __________

Commission File Number: 001-36904

GoDaddy Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

14455 N. Hayden Road

Scottsdale, Arizona 85260

(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)

(480) 505-8800

(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes x No ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports) and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes x No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," "smaller reporting company" and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No x

As of June 30, 2019, the aggregate market value of the registrant's Class A common stock held by non-affiliates, based upon the closing sales price for the registrant's Class A common stock as reported by the New York Stock Exchange, was $12,377,121,842. For the purpose of calculating the aggregate market value of shares held by non-affiliates, we have assumed that all outstanding shares are held by non-affiliates, except for shares beneficially owned by each of our executive officers, directors and 5% or greater stockholders. In the case of 5% or greater stockholders, we have not deemed such stockholders to be affiliates unless there are facts and circumstances indicating that such stockholders exercise any control over our company. This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for any other purpose.

As of February 14, 2020, there were 173,549,763 shares of GoDaddy Inc.'s Class A common stock, $0.001 par value per share, outstanding and 1,347,434 shares of GoDaddy Inc.'s Class B common stock, $0.001 par value per share, outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the registrant's Definitive Proxy Statement relating to the Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K where indicated. Such Definitive Proxy Statement will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the registrant's fiscal year ended December 31, 2019.

GoDaddy Inc.

Annual Report on Form 10-K

Year Ended December 31, 2019

TABLE OF CONTENTS

NOTE ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K, including the sections titled "Business," "Risk Factors," "Use of Proceeds" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, involving substantial risks and uncertainties. The words "believe," "may," "will," "potentially," "plan," "could," "should," "predict," "ongoing," "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "project," "expect" and similar expressions conveying uncertainty of future events or outcomes are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements include, among other things, those regarding:

• our ability to continue to add new customers and increase sales to our existing customers;

• our ability to develop new solutions and bring them to market in a timely manner;

• our ability to timely and effectively scale and adapt our existing solutions;

• our dependence on establishing and maintaining a strong brand;

• the occurrence of service interruptions and security or privacy breaches;

• system failures or capacity constraints;

• the rate of growth of, and anticipated trends and challenges in, our business and in the market for our products;

• our future financial performance, including our expectations regarding our revenue, cost of revenue, operating expenses, including changes in technology and development, marketing and advertising, general and administrative and customer care expenses, and our ability to achieve and maintain future profitability;

• our ability to continue to efficiently acquire customers, maintain our high customer retention rates and maintain the level of our customers' lifetime spend;

• our ability to provide high quality Customer Care;

• the effects of increased competition in our markets and our ability to compete effectively;

• our ability to grow internationally;

• the impact of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates on our business and our ability to effectively manage the exposure to such fluctuations;

• our ability to effectively manage our growth and associated investments, including our migration of the vast majority of our infrastructure to the public cloud;

• our ability to integrate acquisitions;

• our ability to maintain our relationships with our partners;

• adverse consequences of our substantial level of indebtedness and our ability to repay our debt;

• our ability to maintain, protect and enhance our intellectual property;

• our ability to maintain or improve our market share;

• sufficiency of cash and cash equivalents to meet our needs for at least the next 12 months;

• beliefs and objectives for future operations;

• our ability to stay in compliance with laws and regulations currently applicable to, or which may become applicable to, our business both in the United States (U.S.) and internationally;

• economic and industry trends or trend analysis;

• our ability to attract and retain qualified employees and key personnel;

• anticipated income tax rates, tax estimates and tax standards;

• interest rate changes;

• the amount and timing of any payments we make under tax receivable agreements (TRAs) or for tax distributions;

• the future trading prices of our Class A common stock;

NOTE ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS (continued)

• our expectations regarding the outcome of any litigation;

• the amount and timing of any repurchases of our Class A common stock under our share repurchase programs;

as well as other statements regarding our future operations, financial condition, growth prospects and business strategies.

We operate in very competitive and rapidly-changing environments, and new risks emerge from time-to-time. It is not possible for us to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed in this report may not occur, and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those implied in our forward-looking statements.

You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Although we believe the expectations reflected in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee the future results, levels of activity, performance or events and circumstances described in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur. Neither we, nor any other person, assume responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this report to conform such statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations, except as required by law. Given these risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.

Unless expressly indicated or the context suggests otherwise, references to GoDaddy, we, us and our refer to GoDaddy Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries, including Desert Newco, LLC and its subsidiaries (Desert Newco).

Part I.