On December 10, Airbnb went public on the New York Stock Exchange, recording one of the most successful days for Wall Street in all of 2020. Although the initial listing price was $68, Airbnb‘s shares ended the day at $144.71 worth, recording an increase of 113%. Airbnb achieved a $ 100 billion valuation, making it “the world’s leading online travel company”, surpassing Expedia and TripAdvisor.
The possible listing of the online travel portal founded in San Francisco in 2008 by three former university mates, Brian Chesky, Nathan Blecharczyk, and Joseph Gebbia, had already been discussed for some years. At the end of 2019, it was decided that the stock market entry would be in the first months of this year, last March exactly. But for obvious reasons, the big jump had been postponed. However, this has led to significant losses of money and value, and the pandemic has forced Airbnb to change plans. Brian Chesky, CEO, and co-founder cut costs, fired people and quickly made a series of drastic decisions that have, at least in part, helped the company up. By doing so, in some ways, Airbnb has returned to its origins, allowing it today to get to the listing.
As the Wall Street Journal wrote, in 2020, Airbnb had a “near-death experience” following which it was able to “get out of the abyss” and finally get to today’s listing, “which only a few months ago would have seemed impossible“.
