Jennifer Rudden
Research expert covering finance, real estate and insurance
Get in touch with us nowLargest IPOs in the U.S. 2021
Totaling 21.77 billion U.S. dollars, the 2014 initial public offering (IPO) of Alibaba Group Holding Limited remains the largest IPO ever. Trailing by almost four billion U.S. dollars, Visa takes second place, followed by ENEL SpA, an energy company based in Italy.
What is an IPO?
An IPO is when a private company offers shares to the public for the first time through a stock exchange. Companies do this to raise money, as seen with Alibaba. However, public companies are subject to more scrutiny, such as publishing quarterly reports for investors. Also, not all IPOs are profitable. A bad IPO can result in significant losses.
Companies that could go public
Unicorns are private companies valued over a billion U.S. dollars. Any of these could go public, raising significant funds. However, most IPOs are valued in the millions, not billions. The median deal size of these offerings in the United States tends to be a little more than 100 million U.S. dollars. Investors keep a watch for the next IPO, since a strong offering means high returns for those who buy the stock early.
What is an IPO?
An IPO is when a private company offers shares to the public for the first time through a stock exchange. Companies do this to raise money, as seen with Alibaba. However, public companies are subject to more scrutiny, such as publishing quarterly reports for investors. Also, not all IPOs are profitable. A bad IPO can result in significant losses.
Companies that could go public
Unicorns are private companies valued over a billion U.S. dollars. Any of these could go public, raising significant funds. However, most IPOs are valued in the millions, not billions. The median deal size of these offerings in the United States tends to be a little more than 100 million U.S. dollars. Investors keep a watch for the next IPO, since a strong offering means high returns for those who buy the stock early.
