# Adobe — Capital Time Machine

Adobe’s official history supplies its 1986 IPO date and a rounded split-adjusted IPO price. The calculator presents that reference as approximate rather than inventing a precise private funding price.

Canonical citation: https://capitaltimemachine.com/private/adobe

Ticker: ADBE
Sector: Creative software
Public-market route: IPO
Evidence reviewed: 2026-09-24

## How to use this research

Selected historical funding and listing evidence, not a complete private cap table or live quote. Funding totals, company valuations and per-share prices are different measures. A hypothetical value is not actual sale proceeds; investor access is not established.

## Funding and listing history

### formation — Adobe founded

Date: 1982-12
Event type: Formation

John Warnock and Charles Geschke founded Adobe. The founding history does not establish a private investment price.

Source: [Adobe corporate fast facts](https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/cc/en/fast-facts/pdfs/fast-facts.pdf)
Source location: Founding in December 1982; August 20, 1986 IPO; rounded split-adjusted IPO price of $0.17.

### ipo — Adobe public offering

Date: 1986-08-20
Event type: IPO reference

Adobe publishes a rounded $0.17 split-adjusted IPO reference. It is useful for an approximate comparison, not an exact reconstruction of an IPO allocation.

Reported price: Approximately $0.17, split-adjusted

Source: [Adobe corporate fast facts](https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/cc/en/fast-facts/pdfs/fast-facts.pdf)
Source location: Founding in December 1982; August 20, 1986 IPO; rounded split-adjusted IPO price of $0.17.

### splits — Six two-for-one splits

Date: 1987–2005
Event type: Share basis

The six public splits multiply to 64. That adjustment is already included in the $0.17 reference.

Source: [Adobe stock-split FAQ](https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/investor-relations/pdfs/ADBE_stocksplit.pdf)
Source location: Six two-for-one splits; May 24, 2005 split-adjusted trading.

## Documented share calculations

### ipo-reference — IPO reference · about $0.17 adjusted

Starting price: 0.17 USD per starting share
Starting date or context: IPO · Aug 20, 1986 · rounded adjusted reference

Base conversion: 1 common-share equivalents per starting share, before dated public splits

Approximate result using Adobe’s rounded $0.17 split-adjusted IPO reference. Already on the post-May 2005 basis; do not apply the 64-for-one cumulative adjustment again.

Public trading begins: 1986-08-20
Supported ending dates begin: 2005-05-24
Share basis reviewed through: 2005-05-24

The ending share price and its date must be supplied by the user.

Formula: amount ÷ 0.17 × (1) × applicable dated public splits × ending share price. 

Source: [Adobe corporate fast facts](https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/cc/en/fast-facts/pdfs/fast-facts.pdf)
Source location: Founding in December 1982; August 20, 1986 IPO; rounded split-adjusted IPO price of $0.17.

Source: [Adobe stock-split FAQ](https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/investor-relations/pdfs/ADBE_stocksplit.pdf)
Source location: Six two-for-one splits; May 24, 2005 split-adjusted trading.

## Later share adjustments

No separate share-class distribution is modeled.

## Coverage gaps and limitations

- The company’s $0.17 adjusted IPO reference is rounded. Calculations using it are approximate; it is not represented as a precise original offer price.

- A private-round cash price and conversion chain is not established by these sources. The IPO reference is already split-adjusted and must not be multiplied by 64 again.

Entered prices and later-date share-basis assumptions are unverified. Excludes fees, taxes, dividends, warrants and other distributions; fractional shares are illustrative. Historical investor allocations, minimums and selling rights are not established.

Methodology: https://capitaltimemachine.com/methodology

Research terms: https://capitaltimemachine.com/terms