Cloudflare vs Kia: Founders, CEOs and History
Cloudflare was founded in 2009 by Matthew Prince, Michelle Zatlyn, Lee Holloway and is led by Matthew Prince. Kia was founded in 1944 by Kim Chul-ho and is led by Ho Sung Song.
Company facts
Cloudflare
- Founded
- 2009
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, California
- Current CEO
- Matthew Prince
- Employees
- 5,156
Kia
- Founded
- 1944
- Headquarters
- Seoul, South Korea
- Current CEO
- Ho Sung Song
- Employees
- 53,200
Founders
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.
Kia
Kim Chul-ho
Kia possesses a gritty, foundational founding story, rooted in the desperate industrial infancy of Korea, long before it became an automotive leader, starting entirely with the pragmatic, meticulous manufacturing of bicycle parts.
CEOs and their tenures
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
Kia
- Euisun Chung2005–present
Executive Chair, Hyundai Motor Group; Kia Board Member
Credited with starting the design-led turnaround that changed how buyers saw Kia.
Source - Han-woo Park2014–2020
Former President and CEO
Serving as CEO from 2014 to 2020, he successfully navigated severe geopolitical tensions (like the THAAD missile crisis in China that crushed sales) while heavily upgrading Kia's global brand perception.
Source - Ho Sung Song2020–present
President and Chief Executive Officer
Revenue grew from about $41.9 billion (KRW 59 trillion) in 2020 to ~$81 billion (KRW 114.1 trillion) in 2025, and the operating margin peaked at 11.8% in 2024 before tariffs cut it to 8.0% in 2025.
Source
Timeline: Cloudflare and Kia side by side
1944Kia
Founding of Kyungsung Precision Industry
Kim Chul-ho establishes a modest workshop in Seoul dedicated to the manufacturing of steel tubes and bicycle parts, laying the humble groundwork for what would eventually become a global automotive leader and a vital contributor to South Korea's post-war indus…
1974Kia
Launch of the Brisa, Kia's First Passenger Car
Kia launched the Brisa, its first passenger car, built at the Sohari plant that opened in 1973. Kia had built motorcycles and light trucks before this, and the Brisa made it a carmaker.
1986Kia
Launch of the Pride and Global Export Expansion
Through a partnership with Ford and Mazda, Kia returned to passenger cars with the Pride. Abroad it was sold as the Ford Festiva, and it gave Kia its first large export volumes.
1998Kia
Hyundai Motor Acquires Kia
After Kia collapsed in the 1997 Asian financial crisis and went into court receivership, Hyundai Motor won the 1998 auction for it, beating Ford among other bidders. Kia stayed a separate brand within the new Hyundai Motor Group.
2006Kia
Recruitment of Peter Schreyer
The enterprise makes the radical decision to hire former Audi design chief Peter Schreyer as its head of design, initiating a profound aesthetic revolution that introduces the well-known tiger-nose grille and elevates the brand from a budget alternative to a p…
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.
2011Kia
Launch of the Optima and the Design Renaissance
The Schreyer-designed Optima (K5) sedan brought Kia's new design language to a wide audience and helped it charge more and reach new buyers.
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.
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.
2020Cloudflare
Cloudflare One Launched
Cloudflare bundled its Zero Trust access, secure web gateway, and network services into Cloudflare One, its SASE platform.
2020Kia
Announcement of the 'Plan S' Strategy
Kia announced Plan S, its mid- to long-term strategy to move from a combustion-focused carmaker toward EVs, purpose-built vehicles and mobility services. In January 2021 it renamed itself Kia Corporation.
2021Kia
Launch of the EV6 and the E-GMP Platform
The company introduces the award-winning EV6, the first dedicated electric vehicle built on the modular E-GMP platform, showcasing ultra-fast 800-volt charging capabilities and groundbreaking design, instantly establishing the enterprise as a serious technolog…
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.
2023Kia
EV9 Launch
Kia launched the EV9, a three-row electric SUV on the E-GMP platform, which went on to win the 2024 World Car of the Year award.
2024Cloudflare
Revenue Reaches $1.67 Billion
Cloudflare reported 2024 revenue of $1.67 billion and free cash flow of $166.9 million.
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.
2025Kia
FY2025 Revenue Reaches KRW 114.141 Trillion
Kia sold a record 3,135,873 vehicles and reported FY2025 revenue of ~$81 billion (KRW 114.1 trillion) (+6.2%). Operating profit fell 28.3% to ~$6.45 billion (KRW 9.08 trillion) as US tariffs cost more than $2.13 billion (KRW 3 trillion).
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%.
2026Kia
2030 Targets Set at CEO Investor Day
At its April 2026 CEO Investor Day, Kia set 2030 targets of ~$121 billion (KRW 170 trillion) in revenue, a 10% operating margin and 4.13 million sales. Q2 2026 revenue was a record ~$23.5 billion (KRW 33.04 trillion).
Acquisitions
Cloudflare
- Human Native2026Undisclosed
- Astro Technology Company2026Undisclosed
- VoidZero2026Undisclosed
- Replicate2025Undisclosed
- Nefeli Networks2024Undisclosed
- Baselime2024Undisclosed
Kia
- Takeover by Hyundai Motor (Kia acquired)1998Undisclosed
- Asia Motors1976Undisclosed
Questions about Cloudflare vs Kia
Who is the CEO of Cloudflare, Inc. and Kia Corporation?
Cloudflare, Inc. is led by Matthew Prince and Kia Corporation is led by Ho Sung Song. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was Cloudflare, Inc. founded vs Kia Corporation?
Kia Corporation was founded in 1944 — 65 years before Cloudflare, Inc., which was founded in 2009. Kia Corporation'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 Cloudflare, Inc. have compared to Kia Corporation?
Cloudflare, Inc. employs approximately 5,156 people, while Kia Corporation employs approximately 53,200. Kia Corporation has the larger workforce at 53,200 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 Cloudflare, Inc. and Kia Corporation headquartered?
Cloudflare, Inc. is headquartered in United States and Kia Corporation is headquartered in South Korea. Their different home markets mean they may face different regulatory frameworks, tax regimes, and currency exposure.
Who founded Cloudflare, Inc. and Kia Corporation?
Cloudflare, Inc. was founded by Matthew Prince, Michelle Zatlyn, Lee Holloway. Kia Corporation was founded by Kim Chul-ho.
Which company has a longer operating history — Cloudflare, Inc. or Kia Corporation?
Kia Corporation has been operating for approximately 82 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 Cloudflare vs Kia overview