You’re probably sitting there with your phone out, wondering why your delivery app looks a little different or why you're seeing ads for a company called Wonder. It’s a fair question. The food delivery world moves so fast that by the time you've memorized a CEO's name, the company has been sold, merged, and rebranded three times over.
If you want the short version: The owner of Grubhub is now Wonder Group. But "owner" is a loaded word in the world of high-stakes tech acquisitions. It isn't just about who signed the check. It’s about who is actually steering the ship and what their plan is for your Friday night dinner. To understand how we got here, you have to look at the wild rollercoaster this company has been on since 2021.
The Massive Deal That Changed Everything
For a long time, Grubhub was the king of the hill. Then, the European giant Just Eat Takeaway.com (JET) came knocking. In 2021, they bought Grubhub for a staggering $7.3 billion. It was supposed to be a global takeover.
Honestly? It didn't go well.
The U.S. market is a different beast. DoorDash and Uber Eats were fighting for every inch of territory, and Grubhub started to lose its grip. Investors in Europe weren't happy. They started screaming for JET to sell the American wing of the business. After years of "exploring options" (which is corporate-speak for "trying to find someone to take this off our hands"), a buyer finally emerged.
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Enter Marc Lore and Wonder Group
In late 2024, a company called Wonder Group announced they were buying Grubhub. This wasn't some boring hedge fund acquisition. Wonder is the brainchild of Marc Lore, the guy who founded Jet.com and basically ran Walmart’s e-commerce empire.
The price tag? About $650 million.
If you’re doing the math, yeah, that’s a huge drop from the $7.3 billion JET paid just a few years earlier. It’s kind of like buying a Ferrari for $200k and selling it three years later for the price of a used Honda Civic. But for Wonder, it was the steal of the century. They finalized the deal in early 2025, and as we move through 2026, they are the ones officially in control.
Who Is Running the Day-to-Day?
Even though Wonder Group is the parent company, you don’t see Marc Lore personally checking your order status. The leadership structure is what really dictates how the app works for you.
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- Howard Migdal: He stayed on as the CEO of Grubhub through the transition. He’s an industry veteran who previously ran SkipTheDishes in Canada.
- Marc Lore: As the founder and CEO of Wonder, he is the visionary. He wants to turn Grubhub into a "super app" for food.
- The Wonder Team: They’ve been integrating their "fast-fine" dining concepts into the Grubhub ecosystem.
Basically, while Migdal keeps the delivery engines running, Lore is the one deciding where the engines are actually going.
Why This Ownership Change Matters to You
You might think, "Who cares who owns the company as long as my pad thai shows up?" But ownership changes usually mean big shifts in how the service feels. Under Wonder, the owner of Grubhub has a very specific "food hall" vision.
They aren't just a middleman anymore. Wonder actually owns and operates its own kitchens. They have exclusive partnerships with celebrity chefs like Bobby Flay and José Andrés. Since they took over, they've been pushing these high-end "Wonder" brands directly onto the Grubhub marketplace.
It’s a bit of a gamble. They are trying to solve the "delivery problem" by controlling the food quality itself, not just the guy on the bike delivering it. If you've noticed more "chef-driven" options or meal kits (since they also own Blue Apron) popping up in your feed, that's exactly why.
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The "Super App" Ambition
Lore isn't satisfied with just being another DoorDash. His goal for 2026 is to make Grubhub the one-stop shop for "mealtime."
Think about it. You go to one app. You can order a burger from a local spot, a high-end steak developed by a Michelin-star chef, a week's worth of groceries, and a Blue Apron meal kit for Tuesday night. All in one transaction.
That’s what the "new" owner of Grubhub is betting on. They know they can't beat DoorDash on pure volume alone, so they are trying to beat them on variety and quality.
Is it working?
The market is still skeptical. Transitioning a massive delivery legacy like Grubhub into a curated food hall experience is like trying to turn a cruise ship in a bathtub. But they’ve been aggressive. In 2025, they did a round of layoffs to lean out the company and have been focusing heavily on the Northeast market where Wonder’s physical locations are strongest.
Actionable Insights for Users and Partners
Since the ownership shift is now fully settled, here is what you need to know to make the most of it:
- Check for Wonder Exclusives: If you’re a foodie, look for the "Wonder" section in the app. These are brands you can't get on Uber Eats, and the quality control is usually much tighter because Wonder owns the kitchens.
- Stack Your Subscriptions: If you have Grubhub+ (their loyalty program), keep an eye on how it links with Blue Apron. There are often hidden perks now that they are under the same corporate umbrella.
- For Restaurant Owners: The new ownership is looking for "premier" partners. If you run a high-quality independent shop, the new Grubhub might be more interested in a deeper partnership than they were under the old European management.
- Amazon Prime Perks: Despite the sale, the partnership with Amazon (which gives Prime members free Grubhub+) has largely stayed intact. It’s one of the main reasons many people haven't deleted the app yet.
The ownership of Grubhub isn't just a trivia fact—it's the reason your app looks the way it does. With Marc Lore at the helm, the company is trying to prove that delivery doesn't have to be a race to the bottom of the price chart. Whether people will actually pay for "fast-fine" dining through a delivery app remains the big question for the rest of 2026.