Stride, Inc. (formerly K12 Inc.) is a for-profit education company that provides online and blended education programs. Stride, Inc. is an education management organization (EMO) that provides online education designed as an alternative to traditional "brick and mortar" education for public school students from kindergarten to 12th grade (hence its former name), as well as career learning programs. As of 2012, publicly traded Stride, Inc. was the largest EMO in terms of enrollment. History Finance The company was founded by former banker Ronald J. Packard. Initial investors in the company included Michael R. Milken and Lowell Milken of education company Knowledge Universe, who along with the Milken Family Foundation, invested $10 million. Andrew Tisch of the Loews Corporation and Larry Ellison of Oracle Corporation also contributed venture capital. It became a publicly traded company on December 13, 2007. Leadership William Bennett, Secretary of Education under Ronald Reagan was hired as the company's first chairman of the board, serving until 2005. In 2005, the Philadelphia Board of Education called for the termination of a $3M science curriculum contract with K12 after Bennett said, "if you wanted to reduce crime ... you could abort every black baby in the country and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down." Bennett subsequently resigned from the K12 board and his part-time position with K12. The contract was not revoked, but was not renewed at the end of the contract term. Founder Packard resigned in 2014 to start Pansophic Learning. On February 13, 2018, Stuart Udell resigned from his role as CEO. Nate Davis, the previous CEO, replaced Udell as the current CEO. On January 27, 2021, Stride Inc. (formerly K12 Inc.) announced Nate Davis would be retiring and James J. Rhyu will be taking over his role as CEO. Davis will remain as executive chairman of the board. Offerings Education management Stride, Inc. is a for-profit education management organization (EMO). In this sector, Stride does not operate physical schools, but provides online curriculum to homeschooled children and other schools. Stride was the largest EMO in the US in 2011–2012. Stride's for-profit rival EdisonLearning has also moved away from physical schoolhouses to virtual offerings. Stride offers its online curriculum at three levels: To states and districts as a homeschooling alternative to brick-and-mortar schools To school districts as a