# Rajeev Goel
> Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer at pubmatic
- Profile type: Person
- Profile status: baseline
- Last updated: 2026-05-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Canonical URL: https://thestateofstreaming.com/people/rajeev-goel/
- Also known as: Rajeev K. Goel, Rajeev K Goel
## Summary
Rajeev Goel is the co-founder and CEO of PubMatic (NASDAQ: PUBM), the independent sell-side advertising platform he founded with his brother Amar Goel and co-founders Anand Das and Mukul Kumar in 2006. He took PubMatic public on the NASDAQ Global Market on December 9, 2020, and serves on the boards of the Interactive Advertising Bureau and Johns Hopkins University.

## Profile facts

- Current title: Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
- Current company: pubmatic (https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/pubmatic/)


## Career trajectory

- 2006-01-01 — Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer at pubmatic. Co-founded PubMatic with brother Amar Goel, Anand Das, and Mukul Kumar to build a software platform for premium publishers; has served as CEO continuously since inception.
- 2020-12-09 — Chief Executive Officer (post-IPO) at pubmatic. Took PubMatic public on the NASDAQ Global Market under ticker PUBM at $20.00 per share; the stock closed up nearly 50% on debut.
- 2022-06-21 — EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2022 Bay Area finalist. Named a finalist for the Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) Entrepreneur Of The Year 2022 Bay Area Award.
- 2026-02-26 — Q4 2025 earnings — full-year CTV +50% YoY (ex-political) at pubmatic. On the Q4 2025 earnings call, Goel reported full-year CTV revenue growth of more than 50% year-over-year excluding political, and Activate activity growth of more than 3x.
- 2026-04-21 — Founding member — IAB Tech Lab Programmatic Governance Council at pubmatic. PubMatic took a founding seat on the IAB Tech Lab Programmatic Governance Council alongside Magnite, The Trade Desk, Amazon Ads, Disney, and the major holding-company agencies.
- 2026-04-22 — Pre-announces Q1 2026 results above guidance; opens global CRO search at pubmatic. Goel issued preliminary Q1 2026 results above guidance (revenue ~$62.4M vs. $58.0M–$60.0M guide) the same day PubMatic disclosed the retirement of Chief Growth Officer Paulina Klimenko and the departure of Americas CRO Kyle Dozeman, with Heidrick & Struggles retained for a consolidated global CRO search.


## Media appearances

- 2026-02-26 — interview: PubMatic, Inc. (PUBM) Q4 2025 Earnings Call, Seeking Alpha (transcript) (https://seekingalpha.com/article/4876147-pubmatic-inc-pubm-q4-2025-earnings-call-transcript)
- 2025-02-01 — podcast: PubMatic CEO Rajeev Goel — hidden infrastructure of digital advertising, World of DaaS (with Auren Hoffman) (https://www.worldofdaas.com/p/pubmatic-rajeev-goel)
- 2023-05-01 — video: Supply Chain Optimization Can Unlock Ad Insertion-Order Budgets, Beet.TV (https://www.beet.tv/2023/05/supply-chain-optimization-can-unlock-ad-insertion-order-budgets-pubmatics-rajeev-goel.html)
- 2021-07-01 — video: VC Relationships Are Formed With People, Not Firms, Beet.TV (https://www.beet.tv/2021/07/vc-relationships-are-formed-with-people-not-firms-pubmatics-rajeev-goel.html)
- 2020-12-15 — podcast: New Dawn For Ad Tech IPOs? Talking With PubMatic CEO Rajeev Goel, AdExchanger Talks (https://www.adexchanger.com/adexchanger-talks/new-dawn-for-ad-tech-ipos-talking-with-pubmatic-ceo-rajeev-goel/)

_This page uses only public-professional information (roles, public statements, SEC filings, named press, and recorded media appearances). Family relationships are limited to the publicly disclosed co-founder relationship between Rajeev Goel and his brother and PubMatic co-founder Amar Goel, as documented in PubMatic's S-1 registration statement._

## Key facts

- Rajeev Goel co-founded PubMatic in 2006 with his brother Amar Goel, Anand Das, and Mukul Kumar; he has served as CEO since inception. — PubMatic S-1 registration statement (SEC): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1422930/000162828020016438/pubmatics-12020.htm
- Goel led PubMatic through its IPO on the NASDAQ Global Market on December 9, 2020 under ticker PUBM at $20.00 per share, raising approximately $115 million. — CNBC — "PubMatic, a 14-year-old ad tech company, pops nearly 50% on IPO": https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/09/pubmatic-an-ad-tech-company-pops-nearly-50percent-on-debut-.html
- Goel serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and as a Trustee at The Johns Hopkins University, per PubMatic's investor-relations management bio. — PubMatic Investor Relations — Management — Rajeev Goel: https://investors.pubmatic.com/management/rajeev-goel
- Goel was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year 2022 Bay Area Award finalist by Ernst & Young LLP (EY US). — PubMatic press release — EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2022 Bay Area finalist: https://investors.pubmatic.com/news-releases/news-release-details/rajeev-goel-co-founder-and-ceo-pubmatic-named-entrepreneur-yearr
- Goel holds a master's degree in Computer and Information Technology from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor's degree in Economics, Political Science and Spanish from The Johns Hopkins University. — PubMatic Investor Relations — Management — Rajeev Goel: https://investors.pubmatic.com/management/rajeev-goel


## Related

- pubmatic (Co-Founder & CEO) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/pubmatic/


## External coverage

- PubMatic, Inc. (Investor Relations): Rajeev Goel — Management (https://investors.pubmatic.com/management/rajeev-goel)
- 2020-11-23 — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: PubMatic, Inc. — Form S-1 (initial public offering) (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1422930/000162828020016438/pubmatics-12020.htm)
- 2020-12-09 — CNBC: PubMatic, a 14-year-old ad tech company, pops nearly 50% on IPO (https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/09/pubmatic-an-ad-tech-company-pops-nearly-50percent-on-debut-.html)
- 2026-02-26 — Seeking Alpha: PubMatic, Inc. (PUBM) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript (https://seekingalpha.com/article/4876147-pubmatic-inc-pubm-q4-2025-earnings-call-transcript)
- 2020-12-15 — AdExchanger: New Dawn For Ad Tech IPOs? Talking With PubMatic CEO Rajeev Goel (https://www.adexchanger.com/adexchanger-talks/new-dawn-for-ad-tech-ipos-talking-with-pubmatic-ceo-rajeev-goel/)
- 2025-02-01 — World of DaaS: PubMatic CEO Rajeev Goel — hidden infrastructure of digital advertising (https://www.worldofdaas.com/p/pubmatic-rajeev-goel)
- Beet.TV: Beet.TV coverage tag — Rajeev Goel (https://www.beet.tv/tag/rajeev-goel)
- AdExchanger: AdExchanger coverage tag — Rajeev Goel (https://www.adexchanger.com/tag/rajeev-goel/)

## Profile
Rajeev Goel co-founded [PubMatic](/companies/pubmatic/) in 2006 with his brother Amar Goel and co-founders Anand Das and Mukul Kumar, and has served as the company's CEO continuously since inception. He took the business public on the NASDAQ Global Market on December 9, 2020 under ticker PUBM, one of the first ad-tech operators to test the post-pandemic IPO window — the stock closed up nearly 50% on debut.

Before PubMatic, Goel co-founded Chipshot.com, an online retailer of custom-built golf equipment, where he served as vice president of technology. He was a product marketing director at SAP and a principal at Diamond Management and Technology Consultants prior to that. He holds a master's degree in Computer and Information Technology from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor's in Economics, Political Science and Spanish from The Johns Hopkins University, where he now serves as a Trustee. He also sits on the Board of Directors of the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

Goel is one of the few independent SSP CEOs to have scaled and sustained a public company through the post-Magnite-merger consolidation cycle. His April 22, 2026 pre-announcement of Q1 2026 results above guidance — packaged with the simultaneous departures of Chief Growth Officer Paulina Klimenko and Americas CRO Kyle Dozeman, and a Heidrick & Struggles search for a consolidated global CRO — set up the May 7, 2026 print as the next material read on PubMatic's narrative.
## Coverage on The State of Streaming
- [Machine Cognition Hits Programmatic Ads: 30 Autonomous Campaigns Live on PubMatic](https://thestateofstreaming.com/advertising-adtech/2026/05/machine-cognition-programmatic-ads-agentic-ai/) — 2026-05-03
- [Walmart's CTV Stack Just Became a Required Identity Gateway](https://thestateofstreaming.com/advertising-adtech/2026/05/walmart-vizio-ctv-stack-consolidation/) — 2026-05-03
- [Amazon Wires the Identity Stack Together Before NewFronts](https://thestateofstreaming.com/advertising-adtech/2026/04/amazon-identity-stack-consolidation/) — 2026-04-26
- [IAB Tech Lab's New Transparency Council Seats Holdcos, Not Brands](https://thestateofstreaming.com/advertising-adtech/2026/04/iab-tech-lab-pgc-leap-launch/) — 2026-04-26

## Tags

- ad-tech
- ssp
- ceo
- public-company-ceo
- independent-ssp
- iab-board

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