By Karen Roman
IPO Edge Editor-in-Chief John Jannarone joined an interview with Schwab Network’s Nicole Petallides on Sept. 18 to discuss why so-called hectocorns like OpenAI and SpaceX, valued at over $100 billion, are not likely to go public in the short term even though they are large companies eager for capital.
SpaceX is privately valued at over $200 billion while OpenAI is valued at more-than $100 billion and both companies are growing organically. Mr. Jannarone explained they will likely go public when their senior executives consider it best and not as a result of typical pressures. For one, they have virtually endless demand for private capital rounds – from both VCs and strategics. Second, shareholders can easily find buyers in the robust secondary markets so won’t clamor for a public-market exit.
He also mentioned the broader IPO market is expecting milestones like interest rate cuts for the gateway to fully open to companies like Klarna and Stripe, among others in the pipeline.
Mr. Jannarone said the IPO window will probably improve in 2025 and recommended clean corporate governance, profitability and a credible growth story for private companies looking to go public.
For further insights into these topics readers are invited to attend the Fourth Palm Beach CorpGov Forum to be held on November 13 and 14, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida. Click here to learn more about this annual event.
To watch the full Schwab interview with Ms. Petallides and Mr. Jannarone , CLICK HERE.
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Editor@IPO-Edge.com
