Spotify's Unusual Public Listing Could Change the IPO Game
Spotify officially filed for a $1 billion public listing, planning an unusual direct listing instead of a traditional IPO. Dan Primack, Business Editor at Axios, joined Cheddar to explain how a successful listing could change how high-profile tech companies go public.
Primack explained his biggest takeaway is that there are no lock-ups on any investors or shareholders other than Tencent. This means almost all venture capitalists and employees can dump the stock as soon as Spotify goes public. Primack said this is important because it could cause crazy volatility like "we've never seen before."
One of Spotify's major challenges is that it bleeds money. The Swedish company lost nearly $1.5 billion last year. On the other hand, Spotify revealed robust growth with its 159 million users and 71 million premium subscribers. Despite extraordinary growth, Primack noted that it's hard to ignore the losses. Primack said this, along with competition from Amazon, Apple, and Pandora, will be a major challenge for the music streamer.
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