Amid heavy debt and growing competition from AI-generated imagery, Getty Images, a global provider of visual content and coverage, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware, formalizing a restructuring that would hand the company to the Getty family and Koch Equity Development and wipe out its public shareholders.
Getty said in a press release that affiliates of the family and Koch Equity Development have committed up to US$ 533 million in new equity and will own 100% of the business when it emerges as a private company. It expects to finish by year-end, subject to regulatory approvals. The company listed estimated assets and liabilities of US$ 1 billion to US$ 10 billion, Reuters reported.
The plan, set out in a Restructuring Support Agreement signed 12 October 2026, has the support of its major financial stakeholders, Getty said.
The company said creditors holding 90% of its debt back the deal, according to Reuters. Getty has also launched a solicitation process seeking formal approval of the prepackaged plan.
Getty Images said it will continue operating in the ordinary course throughout the process. “There is no anticipated impact on content contributors, partners, customers, employees, or vendors, and the Company expects to continue fulfilling obligations and serving stakeholders as usual.”
“Today’s filing is a procedural step to implement the financial restructuring previously announced,” CEO Craig Peters said in Getty’s press release.
It expects to fund the process with up to US$ 143 million in financing from a Koch affiliate, plus cash from operations.
Court testimony painted a harsher picture. Bankruptcy attorney Brian Schartz told Judge Kate Stickles in Wilmington that costly investor disputes accelerated the filing, Reuters reported. Getty entered bankruptcy with US$ 1.46 billion in debt and just US$ 20 million in cash, despite US$ 978 million in revenue over the past 12 months, Reuters said.
About US $200 million in legal judgments have weighed on performance, Schartz said, and the company could face up to US$ 275 million in future liabilities. It has also spent US$ 35 million on legal fees over four years. The disputes stem from investors who say Getty blocked them from buying shares at US$ 11.50 when the stock briefly rose to US$ 32. Getty has lost two lawsuits, paying US$ 110 million in April and now facing an unpaid US$ 92 million judgment it could not afford to bond for an appeal, Reuters reported.
The company cited its failed merger with Shutterstock, abandoned earlier this year after the UK competition regulator required the sale of Shutterstock’s editorial business. Reuters and other news reports also said the collapse came amid heavy debt and growing competition from AI-generated imagery.
Shareholders plan to seek a court-appointed equity committee, Schartz said. Getty’s press release warned that Class A stockholders would receive nothing under the plan and that the company risks losing the right to use the ‘Getty Images’ trademarks.
