Page 190 - Initial Public Offering - An Introduction to IPO on Wall Street

13. Modern IPOs

In March 1602, when the Dutch East India Company sold the business’s shares to the public,
the first modern IPO occurred on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, establishing the business
as the first ‘public’ company. When an IPO is complete, investors can freely purchase and
sell market shares on a trading platform, if an individual or group is willing to complete the
opposite action at the stated price.

Since 2009, in private markets, hundreds of enterprise software and technology firms have
achieved $1B or more in valuation. A total of 115 business applications and technology IPOs
generating about $107B in market cap at the IPO price between 2009 and 2017. During the
same time, these same businesses sold more than $18B of stock to public market investors.

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