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This is less unrealistic than it might seem at first. Twitter is no longer mostly owned by VCs looking for their 10x return - it's exited already. So it's now o

by swombat 11y ago

This is less unrealistic than it might seem at first. Twitter is no longer mostly owned by VCs looking for their 10x return - it's exited already. So it's now owned by the public, just by a slice of the public who wants to increase profits to increase the valuation. This is still not exactly straightforward to turn into a charity, but it's more realistic than if it was at the point where it was sitting on $700m of VC investments...

roymurdock 11y ago
I imagine that your pension fund manager would not be happy to take a 50% writeoff on his Twitter position that would ultimately be reflected in your retirement portfolio. Everyone who owns a share of Twitter is looking for capital gains.
AznHisoka 11y ago
So the public aren't looking for 10x returns either? Man.. Missed the days when mom and pops were all in the stock market and you had a chance to buy in on a company when they were still very small.. Seems all the profits already made when a company IPOs
criddell 11y ago
I think the transition would be pretty tough to make. If they did it quickly, they would be hammered by investor lawsuits. If they do it slowly, their stock price will fall enough that somebody would likely buy them.
danielweber 11y ago
This will never happen voluntarily. You would need a major event, such as bankruptcy, to allow this to happen. There are many things in the business world where you are at position A and will end up at position B, but there are too many stakeholders who are going to lose by the transition for it to happen peacefully.
morgante 11y ago
> This is still not exactly straightforward to turn into a charity, but it's more realistic than if it was at the point where it was sitting on $700m of VC investments... If you think VCs more likely to accept their investment turning into a non-profit than public market investors, then you've never interacted with stock investors. Twitter trying to turn into a non-profit would lead to a class action lawsuit for breach of fiduciary duty. Guaranteed. (If they even got that far without the board and CEO getting replaced.)
Riod 11y ago
Even assuming everyone bought in at today's low cost base; who would agree to this? Would you voluntarily lose $15+/share for...for what exactly? Greater good?
- swombat 11y ago
  As it happens, that's precisely the reason why public corporations exist: the greater good. That this has been forgotten and replaced with unilateral and antisocial concerns like "increase shareholder value at all costs" is an accident along the way. There is no reason why that can't be corrected. Public corporations exist for the good of the public and are basically funded by the public - even more so if they are largely owned by pension funds. My point, that being said, was not that this is straightforward. It is clearly not an easy step from public corporation to charity. However, that is a slightly easier step than from VC owned private company to charity, because VCs are very clear about wanting one thing only: capital gains, and they are not equivalent to "the public".
  - Riod 11y ago
    What? You can't be serious..

by swombat 11y ago

roymurdock 11y ago

I imagine that your pension fund manager would not be happy to take a 50% writeoff on his Twitter position that would ultimately be reflected in your retirement portfolio. Everyone who owns a share of Twitter is looking for capital gains.

AznHisoka 11y ago

So the public aren't looking for 10x returns either? Man.. Missed the days when mom and pops were all in the stock market and you had a chance to buy in on a company when they were still very small.. Seems all the profits already made when a company IPOs

criddell 11y ago

I think the transition would be pretty tough to make. If they did it quickly, they would be hammered by investor lawsuits. If they do it slowly, their stock price will fall enough that somebody would likely buy them.

danielweber 11y ago

This will never happen voluntarily. You would need a major event, such as bankruptcy, to allow this to happen. There are many things in the business world where you are at position A and will end up at position B, but there are too many stakeholders who are going to lose by the transition for it to happen peacefully.

morgante 11y ago

> This is still not exactly straightforward to turn into a charity, but it's more realistic than if it was at the point where it was sitting on $700m of VC investments... If you think VCs more likely to accept their investment turning into a non-profit than public market investors, then you've never interacted with stock investors. Twitter trying to turn into a non-profit would lead to a class action lawsuit for breach of fiduciary duty. Guaranteed. (If they even got that far without the board and CEO getting replaced.)

Riod 11y ago

Even assuming everyone bought in at today's low cost base; who would agree to this? Would you voluntarily lose $15+/share for...for what exactly? Greater good?

swombat 11y ago
As it happens, that's precisely the reason why public corporations exist: the greater good. That this has been forgotten and replaced with unilateral and antisocial concerns like "increase shareholder value at all costs" is an accident along the way. There is no reason why that can't be corrected. Public corporations exist for the good of the public and are basically funded by the public - even more so if they are largely owned by pension funds. My point, that being said, was not that this is straightforward. It is clearly not an easy step from public corporation to charity. However, that is a slightly easier step than from VC owned private company to charity, because VCs are very clear about wanting one thing only: capital gains, and they are not equivalent to "the public".
- Riod 11y ago
  What? You can't be serious..