Gleb Budman Net Worth: Estimated Wealth and How It’s Calculated

Gleb Budman's net worth is estimated at roughly $8 million to $16 million as of early 2026, based on his publicly reported insider stock holdings in Backblaze (BLZE) and his compensation disclosures in SEC filings. The range varies because the underlying asset, Backblaze stock, moves with the market, and estimates from different financial data platforms snapshot holdings at different points in time.

Who Gleb Budman is (and why the name isn't confusing for long)

The Gleb Budman behind virtually every net worth search result is the co-founder, CEO, and Chairperson of the Board at Backblaze, a cloud storage and backup company headquartered in San Francisco, California. There is no credible competing public figure with the same name that shows up in financial, business, or entertainment contexts at meaningful scale. Backblaze's own SEC filings, proxy statements (DEF 14A), and investor materials repeatedly and unambiguously identify him as the founder and long-running chief executive. So if you searched for his net worth, this is almost certainly the person you had in mind.

Budman has been CEO since 2007 and joined the Backblaze board in 2009. In January 2021 the board combined the Chair and CEO roles and designated him as Chairperson as well. Before Backblaze, he held senior roles at SonicWall and MailFrontier (which was acquired by SonicWall), and at Kendara (which was acquired by Excite@Home). His LinkedIn profile describes him as a founder of three companies, consistent with this history. He is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, which aligns with Backblaze's location.

His career and income: what the public record actually shows

Backblaze went public (NASDAQ: BLZE) in November 2021, which is the event that made Budman's compensation and equity holdings subject to detailed public disclosure. Before the IPO, financial details were largely private. A 2015 interview noted that the founders went without salary in the early years and eventually started paying themselves minimum wage, meaning early wealth accumulation was almost entirely tied to equity, not cash income.

Post-IPO, compensation is on the record. In 2023, his total compensation was $641,185, made up of a $525,000 base salary and roughly $79,285 in RSU awards. In 2024, total compensation jumped to $2,207,007, with a base salary of $546,875, RSU awards with a grant-date fair value of $1,649,782, and about $10,350 in other compensation. The big swing between years is almost entirely driven by the size of RSU grants, not changes in salary. That pattern is typical for public company founders at this stage: the salary is comfortable but not extraordinary; the real money is in equity.

How net worth estimates for insiders like Budman are actually built

Because Budman is an SEC-reporting insider (the company is publicly traded), his stock transactions and holdings are disclosed through Form 4 filings on EDGAR. Financial data platforms like GuruFocus and Benzinga pull those filings and multiply reported share counts by the current or recent stock price to produce a net worth estimate. If you are looking specifically for Andrew Budzinski net worth, you can apply the same approach: check the most recent filings and update the share-price math to match the latest snapshot net worth estimate. That estimate is essentially the equity value of his Backblaze holdings, which is the dominant component of any realistic wealth calculation for a founder in this position.

The methodology has a clear limitation: it measures one asset class (public stock) and largely ignores everything else, including private assets, real estate, cash savings from years of salary, or any other investments. It also reflects holdings at a specific point in time. When Backblaze's share price rises or falls, these estimates move with it. When founders sell shares under a 10b5-1 trading plan (which Backblaze's founders have disclosed doing), reported holdings can decline from earlier snapshots, pulling estimates down even if overall wealth is stable or growing from the proceeds.

The estimated net worth range and what supports it

GuruFocus, which bases its figures explicitly on SEC filing-derived insider holdings, estimated Budman's net worth at roughly $8 million as of April 2026, citing approximately 1,863,857 shares of Backblaze stock. Benzinga, using similar SEC-sourced insider data, reported a figure around $15.7 million at a different calculation date. The gap between those two figures is best explained by the timing of the share price snapshot and any changes to reported holdings between filings.

A reasonable working estimate, as of May 2026, is that Budman's net worth sits somewhere in the $8 million to $16 million range. Calling it much higher requires assuming significant undisclosed private assets; calling it much lower ignores documented equity and years of six-figure salary. Neither extreme is well supported by available evidence.

The main wealth drivers and what actually moves the number

• Backblaze equity (BLZE shares): This is by far the largest component. Budman held a substantial founder's stake in the company at the time of its 2021 IPO, with the S-1/A filing showing a 29.4% voting power figure tied to Class B share structure. As RSU grants vest and previously held shares are sold or retained, this figure evolves continuously.
• Annual RSU grants: The 2024 proxy showed nearly $1.65 million in RSU grant-date fair value alone. These grants vest over time and add to his equity position year over year as long as he remains at the company.
• Base salary: At $546,875 in 2024, salary is a meaningful income stream but a small fraction of overall wealth relative to equity. Over nearly two decades as CEO, cumulative salary represents real saved capital.
• 10b5-1 trading plan proceeds: Backblaze founders disclosed a limited conversion and sale program under 10b5-1 plans. Cash realized from planned stock sales is wealth that no longer appears in share-count-based estimates, meaning those databases can undercount total accumulated wealth.
• Private assets and prior company exits: Kendara was acquired by Excite@Home and MailFrontier was acquired by SonicWall, both before Backblaze. Any proceeds from those earlier exits would represent historical wealth not captured in current stock-based estimates.

What's genuinely uncertain and what's missing from the picture

The biggest gap in any estimate here is that public SEC filings only capture publicly traded stock holdings. Real estate, private investments, bank accounts, proceeds from prior share sales, and any equity in non-public ventures are invisible to the standard GuruFocus or Benzinga methodology. For a founder who spent years taking minimal salary and whose wealth has always been equity-centric, the shift from company stock into diversified private assets (as many founders do post-IPO) can make stock-based estimates increasingly incomplete over time.

There are also no credible controversies, legal judgments, or public disputes that would suggest liabilities materially affecting the estimates. The 10b5-1 trading plan disclosures are standard founder liquidity planning, not a warning sign. The combined CEO/Chair role has drawn standard governance scrutiny in proxy advisory circles, but there is nothing in the public record suggesting financial irregularity.

One additional layer of uncertainty is Backblaze's stock price volatility. BLZE is a small-cap company, meaning its share price can move significantly on earnings results or broader market conditions. Since Budman's estimated net worth is largely a function of share count multiplied by current price, a 20% move in the stock produces a roughly 20% move in the equity-based estimate. That alone can explain multi-million dollar swings between published figures.

How to check the estimate yourself and find updated numbers

The most reliable way to track Budman's holdings is to go directly to SEC EDGAR (sec. If you want the latest perspective on Victor Budzinski net worth, compare recent updates and reported insider holdings from the same period Budman's holdings. gov) and search for Form 4 filings under 'Budman Gleb' associated with Backblaze (ticker: BLZE). Each Form 4 shows a transaction date, the number of shares bought or sold, and the total shares remaining after the transaction. Multiply the most recent reported share count by the current BLZE stock price and you have the best available equity-based net worth estimate. It takes about five minutes and it uses the primary source rather than a third-party aggregator.

1. Go to sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar and search for 'Budman Gleb' or use the company search for Backblaze (BLZE) and filter by Form 4.
2. Open the most recent Form 4 and note the total shares beneficially owned after the last reported transaction.
3. Check the current BLZE share price on any financial site (Google Finance, Yahoo Finance, or the Nasdaq site).
4. Multiply shares held by the current price to get a rough equity net worth figure.
5. Review Backblaze's most recent DEF 14A (proxy statement) on EDGAR for the latest annual compensation figures, including salary and RSU grant values.
6. Cross-reference with GuruFocus or Benzinga for quick sanity checks, keeping in mind their figures may lag the most recent filings by days or weeks.

For broader context on how tech founders in this range compare to others, it helps to look at profiles of similar entrepreneur-executives. Founders at comparably sized public tech companies often show net worth profiles driven by the same equity-heavy, salary-secondary pattern. That context is useful when evaluating whether the $8 million to $16 million estimate sounds credible for someone in Budman's specific position, tenure, and company stage.

One final note: net worth estimates for private individuals, even publicly reported insiders, are always snapshots. They reflect holdings and prices at a moment in time. Budman's actual wealth on any given day depends on BLZE's trading price, any recent Form 4 transactions, and private assets that are never disclosed. If you want to compare figures over time, you can also look up bob budiansky net worth updates and how they are calculated from publicly disclosed information. Treat any published figure, including the range in this article, as an informed estimate rather than a confirmed balance sheet.