Alternatively - Airbnb selected investors that they knew would hold the stock and support their long-term vision for the product/brand. Those investors being i

Alternatively - Airbnb selected investors that they knew would hold the stock and support their long-term vision for the product/brand. Those investors being inclined to hold, did not sell, yielding a relatively small float that was massively outstripped by demand, causing the price to skyrocket. Maybe some of those investors were friends of the bankers and cashed out but that would only be (a small) part of the story