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Visa drops $18 billion IPO, the largest ever in US history.
- aston 19y agoHow hard was it for them to get "V"? In other news, as late as yesterday, Visa was a private company. Crazy.
- tonyvt2005 19y agoYeah, don't know why it was private for so long. Same with MasterCard. Their IPO was around 2 years ago.
- mattmaroon 19y agoYeah, it only took them 50 years (during almost all of which they were the market leader) to IPO. Imagine that in the tech world. That'd be like Google not going public until 2050.
- ctkrohn 19y agoCongratulations to the JPMorgan deal team for putting together a great deal in really tough financial situations. I too had no idea that it was a private company. To anyone wondering why their symbol isn't VISA: only NASDAQ companies have four-letter symbols. NYSE-listed companies have three letters or fewer.
- deleted 19y ago[deleted]
- Shooter 19y ago<PEDANTIC> Important news and appropriate for HN, but the use of the word "drops" in the title is a poor word choice as it suggests that the IPO did NOT occur. If you're talking about the 'release' of a new hip-hip album, the word 'drops' might be appropriate...but it has the opposite meaning if you're talking about IPOs and lawsuits ;-) </PEDANTIC> Visa is a fascinating company. There was a really good article about it in Fast Company several years ago.
- Shooter 19y ago[This is one of Dee Hock's favorite tricks to play on an audience. "How many of you recognize this?" he asks, holding out his own Visa card. Every hand in the room goes up. "Now," Hock says, "how many of you can tell me who owns it, where it's headquartered, how it's governed, or where to buy shares?" Confused silence. No one has the slightest idea, because no one has ever thought about it.] http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/05/deehock.html http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/05/deehock.html http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/05/dee2.html http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/05/dee2.html http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/05/dee3.html http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/05/dee3.html http://www.fastcompany.com/events/realtime/florida/dhock.html http://www.fastcompany.com/events/realtime/florida/dhock.htm...
- aston 19y agoThanks for pointing out the rap exception to the word drop. No sarcasm. I'm working on a new site that, in part, will be devoted to deciphering rap lyrics. Should be pretty dope.
- rms 19y agoI'll make sure to drop by sometime.
- TrevorJ 19y agoVISA: it's everywhere you want to be, now including wall street.