David Wright and Melanie Alder have become Utah’s newest billionaire couple after their e-commerce accelerator Pattern’s stock nearly doubled since its March 2026 surge, pushing their combined stake to $2.2 billion as of August 7, 2026. The Lehi-based founders, who started the company in 2013 by reselling fridge magnets from Alder’s living room, went public on the NASDAQ on September 19, 2025, raising $300 million at a $2.2 billion valuation that has since climbed above $4 billion.
Pattern’s core business relieves consumer brands of the complexity of selling across multiple online marketplaces. The company buys products in bulk, handles storefronts, logistics, and delivery, then profits from selling across more than 70 marketplaces including Amazon, TikTok Shop, Walmart, and Coupang. Using data science and AI, Pattern helps more than 200 brands—including Panasonic, SkullCandy, and Spanx—optimize their online sales. Revenue hit $2.5 billion in 2025, up 39 percent from 2024, with the company already bringing in $1.6 billion in the first half of 2026, according to Forbes.
The couple’s path to billionaire status began modestly. In January 2013, Wright—then a data analyst at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints—pitched Alder, who was raising four children at home, on the idea after hearing his cousin’s wife had made $2 million reselling children’s headbands online. Alder, married to Scott Keate at the time, agreed and began running operations while Wright contributed on the tech side after his day job. “She ran it from 2013 to 2015—which, if we’re being honest, (those first two years) are when companies survive or die,” Wright explained to Forbes.
By 2015, the business—then called iServe—signed its first major contract with health supplement maker Thorne and became profitable enough for both Wright and his coworker Jason Wells (who became chief technology officer) to leave their jobs. That same year, Wright and Alder began spending noticeably more time together. Both later said they had separately begun considering divorces from their spouses for reasons unrelated to each other. Wright asked Alder to dinner for their first date in late 2016, after both had left the Church. The couple married in early 2018, the same year they renamed the business Pattern and opened a corporate headquarters in Utah’s Silicon Slopes.
From Bootstrapped Startup to Public Markets
After seven years of bootstrapping, Pattern raised its first outside investment in 2020 across two funding rounds totaling $277 million, giving the company a $2 billion valuation. The capital fueled acquisitions, international expansion, and hiring as demand grew. By the end of 2022, Pattern had 1,400 employees, offices in Singapore and India, and $1 billion in annual sales.
Pattern’s IPO marked a historic milestone for female co-founders in Utah. Melanie Alder led the largest IPO with a female co-founder in Utah history, raising $300 million at a $2.2 billion valuation, according to Utah Business. The achievement stands out in a national context where female founders remain rare in public markets—since 2013, only about 18 companies in the U.S. went through an IPO with a female founder and CEO, less than 1 percent, according to Visual Capitalist.
When Pattern’s stock hit a record high of $29 in July 2026, CEO Wright’s net worth reached $1.7 billion and Chief Strategy Officer Alder’s climbed to $1.1 billion. The couple, who together own 55 percent of the company, have also banked nearly $90 million in cash from selling shares shortly after the IPO, according to Forbes.
Pattern’s rapid growth and public market success position it among Utah’s most valuable companies. The state’s tech hub, known as Silicon Slopes, is home to other major exits including Qualtrics, which raised $1.55 billion in its 2021 IPO at a $21 billion valuation before being taken private in 2023, and Ancestry.com, which sold for $4.7 billion in 2020. Wright has publicly stated he believes Pattern will one day be Utah’s most valuable company.
The company has beaten earnings expectations every quarter since going public and has seen strong revenue growth of more than 40 percent per quarter. Despite the capital-intensive nature of the business—buying inventory and handling shipping and returns—Pattern reported a net profit of $16 million in 2025 and $56 million (3 percent of revenue) in the first half of 2026, according to Forbes.
Sources
- Forbes — Profile of David Wright and Melanie Alder, their IPO, combined net worth, Pattern’s business model, revenue figures, and company history
- Utah Business — Confirmation of Pattern’s largest Utah IPO with a female co-founder and $300 million raise at $2.2 billion valuation
- Financial Express — Pattern’s $4 billion market cap and $2.2 billion combined stake figure
- CNBC — Pattern’s IPO details, $300 million raise, and NASDAQ debut on September 19, 2025
- Deseret News — Pattern’s female co-founder IPO milestone and $300 million raise
- Reuters — Pattern’s IPO valuation range and pricing details
- Visual Capitalist — Female founder IPO statistics since 2013
