Who benefited the most from LinkedIn IPO

LinkedIn IPO debut on Thursday and nearly doubled to $87 from its $45 IPO price, who benefited the most?

Here’s a peek at the LinkedIn millionaires club (Source: Wall Street Journal):

* Reid Hoffman: LinkedIn’s co-founder and former CEO’s 21.7% voting stake in LinkedIn is worth more than $1.6 billion. He’s holding onto nearly his entire stock pile, save for a $5 million slug for a down payment on a new yacht or whatever.

* Goldman Sachs: The investment bank sold all 871,840 of its shares in LinkedIn. They pocket $39 million from the IPO. if Goldman had waited one day and sold its shares on Thursday, its stake would have been worth $76 million.

* McGraw-Hill: The company, owner of Standard & Poor’s, made a $5 million investment in LinkedIn at a valuation of roughly $1 billion, according to people familiar with the three-year-old transaction. At the $4.3 billion IPO valuation, McGraw-Hill will reap $19 million from the sale of its LinkedIn stock.

* Jeffrey Weiner: The CEO’s 2.5% stake in LinkedIn is worth roughly $200 million on paper, though he is selling just a sprinkling of his stock as part of the IPO.

* Sequoia Capital, Greylock, Bessemer: The trio of private-equity firms were early investors in LinkedIn, and are being rewarded with a stake valued collectively at $3.1 billion, based on Thursday’s stock price. The VC firms also are holding onto their LinkedIn stock, rather than using the IPO to cash out and run off.

So who benefited the most from an IPO?

About the Author

Ivan Guan is the author of the popular book "FIRE Your Retirement". He is an independent financial adviser with more than a decade of knowledge and experience in providing financial advisory services to both individuals and businesses. He specializes in investment planning and portfolio management for early retirement. His blog provides practical financial tips, strategies and resources to help people achieve financial freedom. Follow his Telegram Channel to join the FIRE community.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author. This does not reflect the official position of any agency, organization, employer or company. Refer to full disclaimers here.

Share 0