UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 FORM 10-K ☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 OR ☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the transition period from to Commission File Number: 0-25965 J2 GLOBAL, INC. (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) Delaware 47-1053457 (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) 700 S. Flower Street, 15th Floor, Los Angeles, California 90017, (323) 860-9200 (Address and telephone number of principal executive offices) Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: Title of each class Trading Symbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered Common Stock, $0.01 par value JCOM Nasdaq Stock Market LLC Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☒ No ☐ Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “small reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. Large accelerated filer ☒ Accelerated filer ☐ Non-accelerated filer o Smaller reporting company ☐ Emerging growth company ☐ If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☒ As of the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, the approximate aggregate market value of the common stock held by non-affiliates, based upon the closing price of the common stock as quoted by the Nasdaq Global Select Market was $2,056,955,800. Shares of common stock held by executive officers, directors and holders of more than 5% of the outstanding common stock have been excluded. This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for other purposes. As of February 24, 2021, the registrant had 45,170,544 shares of common stock outstanding. DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE: Portions of the definitive Proxy Statement to be delivered to stockholders in connection with the Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held May 7, 2021 are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Form 10-K. This Annual Report on Form 10-K includes 138 pages with the Index to Exhibits located on page 133. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PART I. Item 1. Business 3 Item 1A. Risk Factors 12 Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 38 Item 2. Properties 38 Item 3. Legal Proceedings 38 Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures 38 PART II. Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity 39 Securities Item 6. Selected Financial Data 43 Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations 44 Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 63 Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 65 Item 9. Changes In and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure 129 Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 129 Item 9B. Other Information 132 PART III. Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 132 Item 11. Executive Compensation 132 Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters 132 Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence 132 Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services 132 PART IV. Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules 132 Item 16. Form 10-K Summary 135 -2- PART I Item 1. Business Overview J2 Global, Inc., together with its subsidiaries (“J2 Global”, “our”, “us” or “we”), is a leading provider of internet information and services. Our Digital Media business specializes in the technology, shopping, gaming, and healthcare markets, offering content, tools and services to consumers and businesses. Our Cloud Services business provides cloud-based subscription services to consumers and businesses including cloud fax, cybersecurity, privacy and marketing technology. Our Digital Media business generates revenues from advertising and sponsorships, subscription and usage fees, performance marketing and licensing fees. Our Cloud Services business generates revenues primarily from customer subscription and usage fees. In addition to growing our business organically, on a regular basis we acquire businesses to grow our customer bases, expand and diversify our service offerings, enhance our technologies, acquire skilled personnel and enter into new markets. Our consolidated revenues are currently generated from three basic business models, each with different financial profiles and variability. Our Digital Media business is driven primarily by advertising revenues, has relatively higher sales and marketing expense and has seasonal strength in the fourth quarter. Our Cloud Services business is driven primarily by subscription revenues that are relatively higher margin, stable and predictable from quarter to quarter with some minor seasonal weakness in the fourth quarter. We continue to pursue additional acquisitions, which may include companies operating under business models that differ from those we operate under today. Such acquisitions could impact our consolidated profit margins and the variability of our revenues. J2 Global was incorporated in 2014 as a Delaware corporation through the creation of a holding company structure, and our Cloud Services business, operated by our wholly owned subsidiary, J2 Cloud Services, LLC (formerly J2 Cloud Services, Inc.), and its subsidiaries, was founded in 1995. Digital Media Our Digital Media business operates a portfolio of web properties and apps which includes IGN, RetailMeNot, Mashable, PCMag, Humble Bundle, Speedtest, Offers, Black Friday, MedPageToday, Everyday Health, BabyCenter and What to Expect, among others. During 2020, our Digital Media web properties attracted approximately 9.1 billion visits and 31.5 billion page views. Our properties provide trusted reviews of technology, gaming and lifestyle products and services; news and commentary related to their vertical markets; professional networking tools, targeted emails and white papers for IT professionals; speed testing for internet and mobile network connections; online deals and discounts for consumers; news, interactive tools and mobile applications that enable consumers to manage a broad array of health and wellness needs on a daily basis, including medical conditions, pregnancy, diet and fitness; and news, tools and information for healthcare professionals to stay abreast of industry, legislative and regulatory developments across major medical specialties. Our Digital Media business generates revenues from the sale of display and video advertising; customer clicks to online merchants as well as commissions on sales attributed to clicks to online merchants; business-to-business leads to IT vendors; the licensing of technology, data and other intellectual property to clients; and the sale of subscription services to consumers and businesses. We believe competitive factors relating to attracting and retaining users include the ability to provide premium and exclusive content and the reach, effectiveness, and efficiency of our marketing services to attract consumers, advertisers, healthcare professionals and publishers. We continue to seek opportunities to acquire additional web properties, both within and outside of the technology, gaming, lifestyle, and healthcare verticals, with the goal of monetizing their audiences and content through application of our proprietary technologies and insight. -3- Web Properties Our Digital Media properties and services include the following: Technology PCMag is an online resource for laboratory-based product reviews, technology news and buying guides. We operate