Coursera’s flagship credentials may carry big brand names, but who’s actually creating the content?

Update (April 2026): On April 9, shareholders of both companies voted overwhelmingly to approve the merger — 99.4%% at Coursera, 99.9%% at Udemy. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2026. I also dug into the 300-page merger prospectus and found that Coursera approached Udemy three times over two years before getting a yes, and that Pluralsight’s owner made a competing cash offer. Read the full merger history. TL;DR Coursera is acquiring Udemy in an all-stock deal worth ~$1.8 b

This is the first major move by Udemy’s new McKinsey-veteran CEO, who is prioritizing enterprise efficiency over the founder’s product vision.

In 2025, Harvard CS50 offers 10 free certificate courses on topics such as computer science, Python, and AI.