Burlington vs Cloudflare: Founders, CEOs and History
Burlington was founded in 1972 by Monroe Milstein and is led by Michael O'Sullivan. Cloudflare was founded in 2009 by Matthew Prince, Michelle Zatlyn, Lee Holloway and is led by Matthew Prince.
Company facts
Burlington
- Founded
- 1972
- Headquarters
- Burlington, New Jersey
- Current CEO
- Michael O'Sullivan
- Employees
- 83,309
Cloudflare
- Founded
- 2009
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, California
- Current CEO
- Matthew Prince
- Employees
- 5,156
Founders
Burlington
Monroe Milstein
Monroe G. Milstein grew up in his family's wholesale outerwear business in New York.
Cloudflare
Matthew Prince
Matthew Prince is Cloudflare's co-founder, CEO, and board chair. In 2004 he and Lee Holloway built Project Honey Pot, which let website owners track spammers harvesting email addresses but could not stop them.
Michelle Zatlyn
Michelle Zatlyn is Cloudflare's co-founder, President, and Chief Operating Officer, and a member of its board. She met Matthew Prince at Harvard Business School, where the two developed the business plan that became Cloudflare in 2009.
Lee Holloway
Lee Holloway co-founded Cloudflare in 2009 and was its first lead engineer and systems architect. He had earlier built Project Honey Pot with Matthew Prince starting in 2004, and he designed much of Cloudflare's early software infrastructure.
CEOs and their tenures
Burlington
- Monroe Milstein1972–2006
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Milstein opened the first Burlington Coat Factory in Burlington, New Jersey, in 1972, broadened it from discount coats into year-round family apparel, shoes, baby and home goods, and took it public in 1983.
Source - Mark Nesci2006–2008
Chief Executive Officer
A 37-year Burlington veteran, Nesci became CEO in 2006 after Bain Capital took the company private for about $2.06 billion. He retired in December 2008, remaining an equity investor and senior adviser to the board.
Source - Tom Kingsbury2008–2019
President and Chief Executive Officer
A former Kohl's senior executive, Kingsbury was hired by Bain Capital in December 2008 to revamp buying, inventory management and the supply chain.
Source - Michael O'Sullivan2019–present
Chief Executive Officer
O'Sullivan joined from Ross Stores, where he spent 16 years and finished as president and COO, and became CEO around September 16, 2019.
Source
Cloudflare
- Matthew Prince2009–present
Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chair
Co-founded Cloudflare in 2009, led it through its September 2019 NYSE IPO, and has grown annual revenue past $2 billion (2025) while expanding from web security into Zero Trust, developer, and AI services.
Source - Michelle Zatlyn2009–present
Co-Founder, President, and Chief Operating Officer
Co-founded Cloudflare in 2009 with Matthew Prince and Lee Holloway and, as President and COO, has led operations and company-building as Cloudflare scaled to more than 5,000 employees.
Source - Thomas Seifert2017–present
Chief Financial Officer
As CFO, he consistently delivered high revenue growth while carefully controlling capital expenditures, allowing Cloudflare to heavily invest in its serverless Edge computing network.
Source
Timeline: Burlington and Cloudflare side by side
1972Burlington
Burlington Coat Factory opens
Monroe Milstein bought a coat outlet in a former factory building in Burlington, New Jersey, and sold brand-name coats at discount prices, the start of Burlington Coat Factory.
1983Burlington
First public offering
Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation went public for the first time, funding expansion from a regional discounter into a national chain with year-round apparel, shoes, baby and home departments.
1989Burlington
Cohoes Specialty Stores acquired
Burlington bought the Cohoes Specialty Stores off-price chain from upstate New York, including a 50 percent stake in the Cohoes Commons building; a few stores still traded as Cohoes Fashions decades later.
2006Burlington
Bain Capital takes Burlington private
Bain Capital acquired Burlington Coat Factory for about $2.06 billion, ending 34 years of Milstein family control. Long-time executive Mark Nesci became chief executive.
2008Burlington
Tom Kingsbury named CEO
Former Kohl's executive Thomas Kingsbury became president and CEO in December 2008, succeeding Mark Nesci, and began overhauling buying, inventory management and the supply chain.
2009Cloudflare
Cloudflare Founded
Matthew Prince, Michelle Zatlyn, and Lee Holloway founded Cloudflare, building on the Project Honey Pot spam-tracking project.
2010Cloudflare
TechCrunch Disrupt Launch
Cloudflare launched publicly at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco in September 2010, offering free website protection and acceleration.
2013Burlington
Return to the stock market
Burlington Stores priced its IPO on October 2, 2013, selling 13.3 million shares at $17 each for about $226 million, and listed under the ticker BURL.
2014Cloudflare
Universal SSL and Project Galileo
Cloudflare gave free SSL certificates to all customers with Universal SSL and launched Project Galileo to protect at-risk nonprofits and journalists for free.
2017Cloudflare
Cloudflare Workers Announced
Cloudflare introduced Workers, a serverless platform built on V8 isolates that lets developers run code across its network.
2019Burlington
Michael O'Sullivan becomes CEO
Former Ross Stores president and COO Michael O'Sullivan succeeded Tom Kingsbury as CEO around September 16, 2019, and later launched the Burlington 2.0 plan of leaner inventories and smaller stores.
2019Cloudflare
NYSE IPO
Cloudflare completed its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker NET in September 2019 at $15 per share, raising about $525 million.
2020Burlington
Online sales end and stores close for the pandemic
On March 5, 2020, Burlington said it would shut its e-commerce business. Days later pandemic lockdowns closed its stores, and fiscal 2020 revenue fell to $5.76 billion with a $216.5 million net loss.
2020Cloudflare
Cloudflare One Launched
Cloudflare bundled its Zero Trust access, secure web gateway, and network services into Cloudflare One, its SASE platform.
2022Cloudflare
Area 1 Security and R2 General Availability
Cloudflare acquired email security company Area 1 Security for about $162 million and made R2 zero-egress object storage generally available.
2023Burlington
Bed Bath & Beyond leases
Burlington won 44 Bed Bath & Beyond leases for $12 million at the June 2023 bankruptcy auction, the largest share of the 109 sold, and later reported 62 former Bed Bath & Beyond leases in total.
2024Cloudflare
Revenue Reaches $1.67 Billion
Cloudflare reported 2024 revenue of $1.67 billion and free cash flow of $166.9 million.
2025Burlington
Joann leases
After Joann's second bankruptcy, Burlington agreed in April 2025 to take over 45 Joann store leases, many of which became part of its fiscal 2026 opening program.
2025Cloudflare
Revenue Passes $2 Billion
Cloudflare reported 2025 revenue of $2.17 billion (+29.8%) and closed its largest contract ever, averaging $42.5 million per year in ACV.
2026Burlington
Record fiscal 2025 results
Burlington reported fiscal 2025 total revenue of $11.57 billion and net income of $610.2 million, and ended the year on January 31, 2026, with 1,212 stores.
2026Burlington
Tariff refunds put into prices
In the second quarter of fiscal 2026, sales rose 11 percent to $2.998 billion. Burlington received $55 million in tariff refunds and said it would reinvest them in lower prices; the store count reached 1,287.
2026Burlington
Headquarters move to Philadelphia announced
On September 3, 2026, Burlington said it will invest $370 million to move its headquarters from Burlington Township, New Jersey, to Schuylkill Yards in Philadelphia, in phases from late 2028 or early 2029.
2026Cloudflare
VoidZero Acquisition and Growth Acceleration
Cloudflare acquired VoidZero, the company behind the Vite JavaScript tooling ecosystem, in June 2026 and reported Q2 2026 revenue growth of 36%.
Acquisitions
Burlington
- Joann store leases2025Undisclosed
- Bed Bath & Beyond store leases2023$12M
- Burlington Coat Factory (taken private by Bain Capital)2006$2.1B
- Cohoes Specialty Stores (Cohoes Fashions)1989Undisclosed
Cloudflare
- Human Native2026Undisclosed
- Astro Technology Company2026Undisclosed
- VoidZero2026Undisclosed
- Replicate2025Undisclosed
- Nefeli Networks2024Undisclosed
- Baselime2024Undisclosed
Questions about Burlington vs Cloudflare
Who is the CEO of Burlington Stores, Inc. and Cloudflare, Inc.?
Burlington Stores, Inc. is led by Michael O'Sullivan and Cloudflare, Inc. is led by Matthew Prince. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was Burlington Stores, Inc. founded vs Cloudflare, Inc.?
Burlington Stores, Inc. was founded in 1972 — 37 years before Cloudflare, Inc., which was founded in 2009. Burlington Stores, Inc.'s longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger Cloudflare, Inc..
How many employees does Burlington Stores, Inc. have compared to Cloudflare, Inc.?
Burlington Stores, Inc. employs approximately 83,309 people, while Cloudflare, Inc. employs approximately 5,156. Burlington Stores, Inc. has the larger workforce at 83,309 employees, compared to Cloudflare, Inc.'s 5,156. A higher headcount does not necessarily imply greater efficiency — it often reflects differences in business model (e.g., manufacturing vs. software).
Where are Burlington Stores, Inc. and Cloudflare, Inc. headquartered?
Both Burlington Stores, Inc. and Cloudflare, Inc. are headquartered in United States, meaning they operate under the same primary regulatory and tax environment.
Who founded Burlington Stores, Inc. and Cloudflare, Inc.?
Burlington Stores, Inc. was founded by Monroe Milstein. Cloudflare, Inc. was founded by Matthew Prince, Michelle Zatlyn, Lee Holloway.
Which company has a longer operating history — Burlington Stores, Inc. or Cloudflare, Inc.?
Burlington Stores, Inc. has been operating for approximately 54 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Cloudflare, Inc. has been in operation for around 17 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Burlington vs Cloudflare overview