The story
Nelnet was founded in 1996 by Mike Dunlap and Steve Butterfield. In March 2000, Nelnet bought UNIPAC Service Corporation, an existing loan servicing company which was founded in 1978 and based in Denver, Colorado. As a subsidiary, UNIPAC Service Corporation was then renamed Nelnet Loan Services, Inc. In June 2000, Nelnet acquired In Tuition, Inc., a loan-servicing company based in Jacksonville, Florida, which was founded in 1979.
Nelnet became a publicly traded company in 2003, at which point the two founders were co-CEOs. In August 2003, the parent company was renamed from Nelnet Loan Services, Inc. to simply Nelnet, Inc. The initial public offering occurred on August 19, 2003, for $200 million. Steve Butterfield stepped down as CEO in 2007.
Nelnet owns over 50 subsidiaries that administer and collect student loans throughout the United States and Canada, such as in Tuition, infiNET, LoanSTAR, and TriCura Canada, Inc. Through its subsidiary, FACTS Management, Nelnet owns RenWeb, a school management program.
On February 7, 2018, Nelnet completed its acquisition of Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc. The combined company is the largest servicer of student loans in the United States, with $397 billion in loans, or around 42% of all student loans in the United States.
From Wikipedia’s article on Nelnet, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.8