The VC and founder winners in Airbnb’s IPO
After a tumultuous year for the travel industry, Airbnb's long-awaited IPO filing just dropped. One thing is clear: there is still plenty of juice left in the home-sharing platform, and a smattering of VCs and the company's founders are positioned to receive some serious returns.
My colleague Alex Wilhelm has an overview article on Airbnb's financial picture and overall metrics. It's a mixed bag, but perhaps stronger than might otherwise be expected, given the global collapse of tourism due to the pandemic. Revenues are stabilizing, growth is up and bookings aren't catastrophic.
So let's get to the most fun question with these big startup IPO offerings, who made the money?
First and foremost, Airbnb's founders - Brian Chesky, Nathan Blecharczyk and Joe Gebbia - managed to hold together a whopping 41.95% of the company based on data offere in its S-1 filing, with Chesky owning slightly more than his two co-founders.