If you feel like you missed out on our latter-day tech IPO extravaganza and your chance to blow money (or make it) on issues like LinkedIn, Facebook or Zynga, take heart. Here's news of an initial public offering that broke right here in San Francisco:
We’ve confidentially submitted an S-1 to the SEC for a planned IPO. This Tweet does not constitute an offer of any securities for sale.
— Twitter (@twitter) September 12, 2013
Yes, Twitter is going public. And this post is not a recommendation that you should consider buying the stock when it comes to market, but don't be surprised if the IPO excites a Facebook-style frenzy. A couple of tech-world takes on the news:
We don’t know much, but expect Twitter to go public at a valuation of between $15 billion and $20 billion, roughly. Its last private money came in at around a $10 billion valuation, and those investors will want a return on their funds. ...
... Twitter’s public offering has been a very long time in coming, and contains inside of it oodles of institutional pressure: With hundreds of millions of invested capital under its belt, Twitter has a number of investors that want their money back -- it has been well managed, sure, but cash has a certain feel to it. The IPO will be a zoo. But it will be fun zoo, and that is all that matters.
Now, what are Twitter’s revenue and profit figures? We’ll actually get to know soon. Get excited.
The company sent its filing confidentially to the Securities Exchange Commission. Many soon-to-be-public companies have been taking advantage of new regulations passed last year in the JOBS Act, which allows smaller businesses to keep its financial data out of the public's eye.
Twitter has been rumored to be going public for the past few years. After Facebook's (FB) IPO in May 2012, Twitter was widely believed to be the next major technology company to offer its stock to public investors.
Twitter has exploded in usage since its creation in 2006, with hundreds of millions of users.