Ambassadors Group, Inc. is a defunct publicly traded educational travel company based in
Spokane, Washington
Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Cana ...
. It was originally an operating division of Ambassadors International, Inc., but was divested into a separate corporation in 2002 to form the company under its current name. The CEO is Jeffrey Thomas, whose 2009 compensation totaled over $1.7 million.
This for-profit company has a close business relationship with
People to People Student Ambassador Program
The People to People Student Ambassador Program was a travel service based in Spokane, Washington, offering domestic and international travel opportunities to middle and high school students. The group was founded in 1956, during the Eisenhower a ...
and several other related cultural exchange groups involving students from several countries.
According to the company's end of year filings, in 2008 and 2009, Ambassadors Group served 41,929 and 34,248 travelers, respectively. In 2010, the company estimated that it would serve 26,674 participants (a net decrease of 22%.)
History
* In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower founded People to People.
* In 1967, Ambassadors Group is founded
* In 1995, Ambassadors Group became a wholly owned subsidiary of Ambassadors International, Inc. Jeffrey Thomas joined the company.
* In 1996, acquisition of Marc L. Bright (professionals). Jeffrey Thomas becomes President.
* In 1999, acquisition of Travel Dynamics (sport)
* In 2001, Jeffrey Thomas became CEO
* On February 28, 2002, Ambassadors Group spun off from Ambassadors International
* In March 2007, Ambassadors International bought Windstar from Carnival for $100 million.
* On May 15, 2008, Ambassadors Group bought BookRags, an
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...
friendly takeover
In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (law), company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in ...
.
* On March 17, 2009, Ambassadors Group announced its partnership with Discovery Education to become the travel provider for the new Discovery Student Adventures learning and adventure-based trips for students in grades5– 12. In 2010 approximately 125 students traveled.
* On April 30, 2013, Jeffey Thomas resigns from Ambassadors Group.
* On July 13, 2015 the company announced its imminent dissolution. Ambassadors Group cites losses of over $17.5 Million in 2014 and floundering sales as causes for closing up shop at the end of this year. A bankruptcy court in Delaware held a two-day auction and
Anschutz Corporation
The Anschutz Corporation is an American private holding company headquartered in Denver, Colorado, United States.
Travelers (thousands) :
BookRags
BookRags is an
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...
al website that provides summaries, study guides, and
lesson plan
A lesson plan is a teacher's detailed description of the course of instruction or "learning trajectory" for a lesson. A daily lesson plan is developed by a teacher to guide class learning. Details will vary depending on the preference of the tea ...
s on
literary works
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
. Based in
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, United States, the website is a subsidiary of Gradesaver LLC. BookRags was founded in 1999 by James Yagmin and David Lieberman, who had recently graduated from college. On May 15, 2008, BookRags was bought by Ambassadors Group for $18 million. The merger was a
friendly takeover
In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (law), company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in ...
.
BookRags contains concise book summaries and thorough analysis of more than 6,000 literary works, which is, according to one source, the largest collection online. It also has a list of
characters
Character or Characters may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk
* ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
and their descriptions, as well as an important quotes section. The website has over 10,000
e-Book
An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...
s in its collection and 8,400 biographies in its database. It facilitates students purchasing duplicates of fellow students' papers.
In a 2010 interview with ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...