[8] Opera Software was founded as an independent company in Norway in 1995 by the Icelandic Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner and Geir Ivarsøy.

[9] They had initially begun development of the Opera web browser while both working at Norwegian telecommunications company Telenor.

Instead, Opera became ad-sponsored, displaying advertisements to users without a license,[13] which was commonly criticized as a barrier to gaining market share.

In newer versions, the user was allowed a choice of generic graphical banners or text-based targeted advertisements provided by Google based upon the page being viewed.

In February 2004, Opera Software announced it was preparing for an initial public offering on the Oslo Stock Exchange in March.

It was speculated that the "international corporation" named in the statement announcing the settlement was Microsoft, which had previously blocked Opera users from correctly viewing MSN.com.

With version 8.5 (released in 2005) the advertisements were removed entirely and primary financial support came through revenue from Google (Opera's default search engine).

From Version 15, the Opera browser for computers would be using the Blink rendering engine, a fork of Webkit developed together with Google.

[31] In 2016, the company changed ownership when a group of Chinese investors purchased the web browser, consumer business, and brand of Opera Software ASA.

[32] The ownership change was initiated in February 2016 when a group of Chinese investors offered US$1.2 billion ($8.31 per share) to buy Opera Software ASA,[note 1][33] though the deal reportedly did not meet regulatory approval.

[34] On 18 July 2016, Opera Software ASA announced it had sold its browser, privacy and performance apps, and the Opera brand to Golden Brick Capital Private Equity Fund I Limited Partnership[35][36][37] (a consortium of Chinese investors led by Beijing Kunlun Tech Co and Qihoo 360) for an amount of US$600 million.

[34] The transaction for sale of Opera's consumer business was approved on 31 October 2016 by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

In February 2021, Opera launched the fintech Dify, an in-browser payment app that includes cashback service and a digital wallet.

[66] In 2013, Opera switched from its rendering engine, Presto, to Chromium's WebKit (now Blink), a decision described as a "sad day for the web.

"[71][72] From 2018[73] to 2020, Opera was involved in the incubation[clarification needed] of Kenyan loan companies OKash and Opesa.