Chewy

Who Chewy Is

Chewy, Inc. is a Delaware corporation that grew out of the website Chewy.com, launched in 2011 by Ryan Cohen and Michael Day. The business became Chewy, Inc. in 2016, completed its initial public offering in June 2019, and trades on the New York Stock Exchange as CHWY, with headquarters in Plantation, Florida. It employed about 18,000 people as of February 2026 and describes its mission as being the most trusted and convenient destination for pet parents. [1] Today it runs what it calls the number one pet pharmacy in America and has expanded into pet insurance and its own Chewy Vet Care clinics, which it agreed in April 2026 to expand from 18 to 47 locations by acquiring the veterinary chain Modern Animal. [1] [6]

Who Controls Chewy

Chewy has two classes of stock. Class A shares, the ones the public trades, carry one vote each; Class B shares carry ten votes each. [3] Affiliates of the private equity firm BC Partners hold about 43.2 percent of the shares but roughly 88.4 percent of the voting power, according to the company's 2026 proxy statement. That makes BC Partners the controlling shareholder. [3] Because of that control, Chewy uses the "controlled company" exemption under New York Stock Exchange rules, which frees it from some requirements that a majority of its board and key committees be independent. [3] The chairman is BC Partners managing partner Raymond Svider, and the chief executive is Sumit Singh, who has run the company since March 2018. [1] [5]

Co-founder Ryan Cohen stepped down as CEO in March 2018, more than a year before the 2019 IPO, and later became chairman and chief executive of GameStop. Anything Cohen has said or funded politically since leaving is his own and is not treated here as evidence about Chewy. [5]

A Small Federal Footprint, a State One That Shows Up

Public records show no corporate political action committee, or PAC, for Chewy, and no federal lobbying by the company in the records reviewed. A PAC is a fund a company uses to give money directly to candidates. [4] The state level is where a footprint appears. Kentucky legislative ethics records list Chewy as a registered lobbying employer that works through a contract lobbyist, and its filings there track pharmacy-related bills, an area tied to its own pet-pharmacy business. [7] [8] Federal campaign finance sources do not capture this kind of state activity, so silence in the federal record is not the whole picture. One point of frequent confusion is worth clearing up: spending that Democratic Party committees report against the name "Chewy.com" is the parties buying pet supplies from the retailer, not political giving by Chewy. [4]

Where the Owner's Money Goes

Chewy's own federal record is quiet, but its controlling owner's is not. BC Partners has no corporate PAC and reported no federal lobbying in 2023 or 2024. [9] Its political footprint shows up instead in the people connected to the firm. In the 2024 election cycle, individuals who listed BC Partners as their employer, together with their immediate families, gave about $210,202 to federal candidates and committees. [9] All ten of the largest recipients were Democrats, led by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee at $55,953, and those ten alone made up roughly $154,000 of that total. [9] This is the giving of employees and owners, not a gift from the firm itself, which by law cannot donate directly.

The DEI Language Quietly Changed

In its annual report filed in March 2024, Chewy included a section headed "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" and described a "DEI mission" to hire, retain, and promote talent inclusive of diverse backgrounds, supported by five team member resource groups. [2] In the annual report filed in March 2026, that section was retitled "People and Culture." The words "diversity, equity, and inclusion" and "DEI" were gone. [1] [2] The company instead said it values "different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives" and described seven team member resource groups that build "connections and understanding." [1] Chewy gave no reason for the change, which falls in the same window when many large companies softened or dropped DEI language from their filings.

From PetSmart to BC Partners

Chewy's viral reputation rests on service, not slogans. When a customer's pet dies, the company has refunded unopened food, suggested donating it to a shelter, and sent flowers and hand-painted portraits, gestures Chewy highlights in its own filings and that have been widely covered in the press. [1] The company leans into that animal-welfare image in other ways too: through its Chewy Gives Back program it reported donating products and supplies for animal shelters and rescues valued at about $64.9 million in fiscal 2025. [3] In 2017, the pet retailer PetSmart bought Chewy for about $3.35 billion, the largest acquisition of an online retailer at the time, edging out Walmart's purchase of Jet.com a year earlier. [5] Chewy went public in 2019, and its ownership was later restructured so that it is now independent of PetSmart, with BC Partners as its controlling shareholder rather than the store chain. [1] [3]

Where to Find Them

Chewy sells directly to consumers at chewy.com, shipping across the United States and, so far, only parts of Southern Ontario in Canada, where it launched in 2023. It runs an online pharmacy, insurance products, and a growing network of veterinary clinics, and it trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CHWY. [1]

Sources

[1] Chewy, Inc., Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2026 (filed March 25, 2026), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: corporate history, June 2019 IPO, mission, employee count, the Human Capital "People and Culture" section, and pharmacy, insurance, and veterinary operations. Accessed August 29, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1766502/000176650226000034/chwy-20260201.htm

[2] Chewy, Inc., Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 28, 2024 (filed March 20, 2024), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: the "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" section and DEI mission language. Accessed August 29, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1766502/000176650224000014/chwy-20240128.htm

[3] Chewy, Inc., Definitive Proxy Statement (Schedule 14A) for the 2026 Annual Meeting, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: dual-class share structure, BC Partners voting power of about 43.2 percent of shares and 88.4 percent of voting power, and controlled company status. Accessed August 29, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001766502/000114036126022529/ny20064174x1_def14a.htm

[4] OpenSecrets, organization and party expenditure records for Chewy: no corporate PAC or federal lobbying profile on the public record, and Democratic Party committee spending listed against "Chewy.com" reflecting purchases from the retailer. Accessed August 29, 2026. https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs

[5] Retail Dive, "Chewy founder leaves as former Amazon exec takes over": Ryan Cohen's departure as CEO in March 2018, his replacement by Sumit Singh, and PetSmart's 2017 acquisition of Chewy for about $3.35 billion as the largest e-commerce acquisition at the time. Accessed August 29, 2026. https://www.retaildive.com/news/chewy-founder-leaves-as-former-amazon-exec-takes-over/519306

[6] Chewy, Inc., "Chewy to Acquire Modern Animal Accelerating Evolution to a Fully Integrated Healthcare Ecosystem," April 8, 2026: agreement to acquire Modern Animal and scale Chewy Vet Care from 18 to 47 locations. Accessed August 29, 2026. https://investor.chewy.com/news-and-events/news/news-details/2026/Chewy-to-Acquire-Modern-Animal-Accelerating-Evolution-to-a-Fully-Integrated-Healthcare-Ecosystem/default.aspx

[7] Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission, lobbying registration records (searchable register) listing Chewy, Inc. as a registered legislative lobbying employer. Accessed August 29, 2026. https://apps.klec.ky.gov/

[8] NKyTribune, "Spending to lobby Kentucky lawmakers hits a new record of more than $24 million in 2024," January 19, 2025: Chewy Inc. listed among a Kentucky legislative agent's lobbying clients. Accessed August 29, 2026. https://nkytribune.com/2025/01/spending-to-lobby-kentucky-lawmakers-hits-a-new-record-of-more-than-24-million-in-2024/

[9] OpenSecrets, "BC Partners" organization profile, 2024 election cycle: about $210,202 in contributions from individuals connected to the firm, the top ten recipients (all Democrats, led by the DCCC at $55,953), and no corporate PAC or federal lobbying in 2023 or 2024. Accessed August 29, 2026. https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/bc-partners/summary?id=D000044097