GitLab CEO – Sid Sijbrandij (Age – 46)

Note: Sid Sijbrandij stepped down as CEO of GitLab in December 2024 to focus on his health. He now serves as Executive Chair of the Board of Directors. Bill Staples was appointed as the new CEO effective December 5, 2024.

GitLab Inc. (NASDAQ: GTLB), the leading AI-powered DevSecOps platform, was co-founded in 2014 by Sid Sijbrandij and Dmitriy Zaporozhets. The company serves over 50 million registered users and counts more than 50% of Fortune 100 companies as customers. During his tenure as CEO from 2012 to 2024, Sijbrandij transformed GitLab from an open-source side project into a publicly traded company with nearly $760 million in annual revenue, pioneering the all-remote work model long before the COVID-19 pandemic made it mainstream. He led the company through its landmark IPO on NASDAQ in October 2021, which valued GitLab at over $11 billion at debut.

Read on to discover GitLab CEO email address, Sid Sijbrandij net worth in 2026, salary and compensation, career history, wife & family, and more.
Sid Sijbrandij GitLab Co-Founder and Executive Chair
Sid Sijbrandij, Co-Founder & Former CEO of GitLab Inc. • Photo: GitLab Inc.

GitLab Competitors

GitLab operates in the highly competitive DevSecOps and software development platform market. The key competitors of GitLab include:

  • GitHub (Microsoft) – the world’s largest source code hosting platform with GitHub Actions CI/CD
  • Atlassian (Bitbucket, Jira, Bamboo) – enterprise DevOps and project management suite
  • Microsoft Azure DevOps – integrated cloud DevOps solution on Azure
  • CircleCI – popular cloud-native CI/CD platform
  • JetBrains (Space, TeamCity) – developer tools and CI/CD
  • Harness – AI-native software delivery platform
  • CloudBees – enterprise Jenkins-based CI/CD

Sid Sijbrandij – Quick Facts

Sid Sijbrandij — At a Glance
Full Name Sytse “Sid” Sijbrandij
Position Co-Founder & Executive Chair of the Board
Company GitLab Inc. (NASDAQ: GTLB)
Age 46–47 years (born 1979)
Education M.S. Management Science, University of Twente (Netherlands)
Net Worth (2026 est.) $400–600 Million
Total Compensation (FY2024) ~$3.85 (famously low)
CEO Tenure 2012–December 2024
Current Role Executive Chair of the Board (since Dec 2024)
Email [email protected]
Twitter/X @sytses

Sid Sijbrandij Net Worth 2026 – GitLab CEO Salary

As of 2026, Sid Sijbrandij’s net worth is estimated at approximately $400–600 million USD. After GitLab’s IPO in October 2021, his net worth peaked at roughly $2.6 billion when the stock debuted at a $15 billion valuation. Since then, GTLB shares have declined significantly from their all-time highs, and Sijbrandij has been regularly selling shares and donating stock to charitable causes (over $22.9 million donated). He remains a major shareholder as a 10%+ owner of GitLab.

Most recently, Sijbrandij sold 54,300 shares in February 2026 at an average price of $28.41 for approximately $1.54 million. He is known for taking an extraordinarily low cash salary — in fiscal year 2023, his total reported compensation was just $3.85, consisting almost entirely of a token $0.25 base salary. His true wealth is entirely tied to his GitLab equity holdings.

GitLab CEO Compensation Breakdown (FY2023)

Component Amount (USD) Notes
Base Salary $0.25 Token salary
Annual Bonus $0.00 Not eligible
Stock Awards $0.00 Large existing stake
Other Compensation $3.60 Misc. benefits
TOTAL $3.85 FY2023
Key Insight: Sid Sijbrandij is among a rare group of tech CEOs who take virtually no cash salary. With a total compensation of just $3.85, his wealth is derived entirely from his substantial 10%+ equity stake in GitLab. Upon his transition to Executive Chair in December 2024, a vesting modification of his options generated an incremental accounting value of approximately $16.95 million.

GitLab Net Worth 2026 – Is GitLab Profitable?

GitLab is not yet profitable on a GAAP basis but is approaching profitability with strong revenue growth and improving margins. In fiscal year 2025 (ended January 31, 2025), GitLab posted total revenue of $759.2 million, a 31% year-over-year increase, while its GAAP net loss was $424.2 million. On a non-GAAP basis, the company generated $120 million in adjusted free cash flow, demonstrating operational strength.

GitLab Financial Summary (FY2025 & FY2026 YTD)

Metric Value YoY Change
Market Capitalization ~$4.2–5.0B
Annual Revenue (FY2025) $759.2M ▲ 31%
Q3 FY2026 Revenue $244.4M ▲ 25%
FY2026 Revenue Guidance $936–942M ▲ ~24%
GAAP Net Loss (FY2025) ($424.2M) GAAP loss
Non-GAAP Adj. Free Cash Flow $120.0M ▲ Positive
Employees ~2,375
NASDAQ Ticker GTLB
Growth Story: GitLab’s FY2026 revenue guidance of $936–942 million represents approximately 24% growth over FY2025. The company now serves over 50 million registered users and boasts a 121% dollar-based net retention rate, reflecting strong customer expansion.

GitLab CEO Email Address | Sid Sijbrandij Contact

Below are the official contact details and social media profiles for GitLab Co-Founder Sid Sijbrandij:

Contact Information
Email Address [email protected]
Twitter/X @sytses
LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/sijbrandij
Personal Website sytse.com
Corporate HQ San Francisco, CA (all-remote company)
Investor Relations ir.gitlab.com

Career & Education – Company, University, & College

Sid Sijbrandij’s career spans software development, submarine engineering, government technology, and venture capital. Below is his complete career timeline:

Sid Sijbrandij Career Timeline

Period Role Company
~2000 (5 months) Intern IBM
~2001 (9 months) Intern Procter & Gamble
2003–2007 Operational Director U-Boat Worx
2008–2012 Co-Founder Comcoaster
2009–2012 Legis Project (Lawmaking Tech) Dutch Ministry of Justice
2012–2024 Co-Founder & CEO GitLab Inc.
2021–Present Founder & General Partner Open Core Ventures
2024–Present Executive Chair of the Board GitLab Inc.

Before building GitLab, Sid Sijbrandij had an unconventional career path. After his studies at the University of Twente, he spent four years at U-Boat Worx as Operational Director, building recreational submarines. From 2008 to 2012, he co-founded Comcoaster, an app store for web applications, while simultaneously working on the Legis project at the Dutch Ministry of Justice, developing innovative web applications to aid lawmaking.

Sijbrandij’s love for programming blossomed in 2007 when he discovered Ruby code. In 2012, he encountered the open-source GitLab project created by Ukrainian programmer Dmitriy Zaporozhets in 2011 and saw its potential. Together they officially incorporated the company in 2014. Sijbrandij applied to Y Combinator’s Winter 2015 batch and was accepted, using the program to build the founding team and secure early funding.

Under his leadership as CEO, GitLab grew from a small open-source project into a company with over 2,300 employees operating in a fully remote, all-remote model — one of the largest all-remote companies in the world. He led the company to its IPO on NASDAQ in October 2021, which was valued at over $11 billion. Sijbrandij transitioned from CEO to Executive Chair in December 2024 to focus on his health while undergoing treatment for osteosarcoma.

Education

University Degree / Program Website
University of Twente M.S. in Management Science (2003) utwente.nl
University of Twente Propedeuse in Engineering Physics / Applied Physics (1997–1998) utwente.nl
University of Twente campus in Enschede, Netherlands
University of Twente campus in Enschede, Netherlands — where Sid Sijbrandij earned his M.S. in Management Science. Photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Sid Sijbrandij Wiki – Age, Family, & More

GitLab co-founder Sid Sijbrandij (age 46–47, born 1979) is originally from the Netherlands. He is the eldest son among four siblings. He is married to Karen Sijbrandij, and the couple celebrated 25 years together in early 2025, having met while both were still at university. They live in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sid has described Karen as “my best friend and best partner in everything.”

Growing up, Sijbrandij recalls being a loner who struggled to make friends, finding solace in academics and later in programming. He has a strong interest in psychology and is known for his commitment to radical transparency — a principle he embedded deep into GitLab’s company culture, making the entire company handbook publicly accessible online.

Notable Achievements & Recognitions

  • Forbes Top Business Minds of the Pandemic – Recognized for pioneering all-remote work at scale
  • GitLab IPO (October 2021) – Led the company to a successful NASDAQ listing with $11B+ valuation
  • Y Combinator Alumnus – Winter 2015 batch graduate, building GitLab’s founding team during the program
  • Open Core Ventures Founder – Founded a venture capital firm investing in open-source software companies
  • Sijbrandij Foundation President – Supporting cancer treatment research, clean energy, and city development
  • GitLab Foundation Board Member – Focused on improving lifetime earnings through opportunity access globally
  • $10M GitLab Donation – Committed $10 million to create economic opportunity through technology

Sijbrandij is a long-time advocate for open-source software and remote work. He has spoken extensively about building transparent, asynchronous-first organizations. In mid-2024, he publicly disclosed his osteosarcoma (bone cancer) diagnosis and has been open about using AI tools to assist in analyzing his treatment options, embodying the same data-driven transparency he championed at GitLab.

About GitLab Inc.

GitLab Inc. is an American technology company headquartered in San Francisco, California, that provides a comprehensive AI-powered DevSecOps platform. Founded in 2014 by Sid Sijbrandij and Dmitriy Zaporozhets, GitLab helps software development teams plan, build, secure, and deploy software through a single application.

Platform Tier Target Market Description
GitLab Free Individual developers Open-source, self-managed or SaaS
GitLab Premium Teams & mid-market Enhanced CI/CD, security, compliance
GitLab Ultimate Enterprise Full DevSecOps platform with AI features

GitLab trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol GTLB. The company operates as an all-remote organization with approximately 2,375 employees across 65+ countries, serving over 50 million registered users including more than 50% of Fortune 100 companies. GitLab’s current CEO is Bill Staples, who succeeded Sid Sijbrandij in December 2024.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Who is the CEO of GitLab?

The current CEO of GitLab is Bill Staples, who was appointed on December 5, 2024. He succeeded co-founder Sid Sijbrandij, who served as CEO from 2012 to 2024 and transitioned to the role of Executive Chair of the Board to focus on his health.

What is Sid Sijbrandij’s net worth in 2026?

As of 2026, Sid Sijbrandij’s net worth is estimated at approximately $400–600 million USD. His wealth peaked at around $2.6 billion following GitLab’s IPO in October 2021, but has declined with the company’s stock price. He remains a 10%+ shareholder of GitLab Inc.

What is Sid Sijbrandij’s salary at GitLab?

Sid Sijbrandij is known for taking an extraordinarily low salary. His total reported compensation for FY2023 was just $3.85, with a base salary of $0.25. His actual wealth is derived from his large equity ownership stake in GitLab, valued in the hundreds of millions.

What is the GitLab CEO email address?

Sid Sijbrandij’s email address is [email protected]. He is also active on Twitter/X at @sytses and on LinkedIn. GitLab’s investor relations can be reached through ir.gitlab.com.

Why did Sid Sijbrandij step down as GitLab CEO?

Sid Sijbrandij stepped down as CEO in December 2024 to focus on his health. He had disclosed in mid-2024 that he was undergoing treatment for osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer. His treatments have been going well and the cancer has not metastasized. He remains involved as Executive Chair of the Board.

Is GitLab a profitable company?

GitLab is not yet profitable on a GAAP basis, reporting a net loss of $424.2 million in FY2025. However, the company generated $120 million in non-GAAP adjusted free cash flow and projects FY2026 revenue of $936–942 million, reflecting strong operational momentum toward profitability.

Article last updated:March 2026March 2, 2026

Disclaimer: All information presented in this article has been compiled from publicly available sources, including SEC filings, official company press releases, and reputable news outlets. This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.