Who Owns Ultimate Ears Speakers?

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Walk onto a college campus, visit a crowded beach, or peek into a professional musician's heavy touring-gear bag, and you'll probably spot a product made by Ultimate Ears. The brand has built a dedicated fanbase since it was founded, dominating the market for both quality Bluetooth audio gear and premium in-ear monitors. However, unlike some hardware companies that operate as independents or faceless conglomerates, the corporate structure behind this beloved audio brand is actually tied directly to one of the biggest peripheral makers on the planet: Logitech.

Because Ultimate Ears is so popular around the globe today, offering some of the best Bluetooth speakers you can buy, many consumers simply assume the brand was born in a corporate boardroom. In reality, the business was founded in 1995 by Jerry and Mindy Harvey, with its origins rooted in some truly cool rock-and-roll history. At the time, Jerry was working as a touring monitor engineer for the iconic rock band Van Halen. Drummer Alex Van Halen was actively struggling with the deafening volume of traditional stage wedge speakers. So, in response to this undeniably hazardous work environment, Harvey built custom-molded earpieces containing tiny dual-speaker drivers — these in-ear monitors would help block out all the stage noise but still deliver a nice, clean, and isolated sound right to the drummer's ears. All of Van Halen loved the custom monitors, word of mouth quickly spread to other major touring groups, like Skid Row, and the audio brand was officially born.

While the rock star origin story is undeniably cool, the original founders aren't calling the shots anymore. That's where Logitech comes in. Back in August 2008, the Swiss tech giant swooped in and officially acquired the audio company for $34 million. At the time of the buyout, Ultimate Ears was basically tech royalty among professional musicians and hardcore audiophiles, but everyday consumers weren't exactly rushing out to buy its expensive high-end in-ear monitors.

Logitech saw a massive opportunity to change that. It took all of that top-tier audio engineering and combined it with its deep pockets and global reach. Instead of just focusing on the concert stage, Logitech pushed Ultimate Ears into our backyards, living rooms, and beach bags, with its brightly colored, round Bluetooth speakers that are must-haves for any good summer party today. Now, when you're shopping for Ultimate Ears speakers, you are looking at fun, rugged, and (best of all) reasonably affordable speakers that were dreamed up and built entirely under Logitech's watch. Even though the brand was created for rock stars, we now get to reap its iconic power and style at home.

Because Ultimate Ears has such a fun, distinct vibe, it's easy to think of it as a completely independent company. However, it's actually just one piece of Logitech's much larger and surprisingly diverse tech family. Over the years, the company has quietly bought up a handful of other fan-favorite brands to conquer almost every corner of your digital life.

If you're a PC gamer (or even if you just work from home), you probably already know Logitech is a heavyweight champion, thanks to its wildly popular gaming mice and keyboards. But its gadget offerings don't end there, thanks to all the other companies it's acquired. These include Astro Gaming (which makes gaming headsets), Loupedeck (for its software consoles), and Blue Microphones (that one's self-explanatory, hopefully). Naturally, the company's reach also stretches into the realms of software, as it acquired brands like Streamlabs (live-streaming software) in 2019 and esports bracket tool Challonge (but only for about three and a half years, which have now passed). So, when it comes to the tech accessories in your everyday life, like the mouse you use at work or the colorful speakers you blast music from while lounging poolside, you may be using a Logitech product. Now, the real question becomes, who owns Logitech?