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Netscape was bought by AOL for $10B in 1999.[0] According to [1], Netscape was valued at $3B after it's IPO. So in that sense its early investors did well (not

Netscape was bought by AOL for $10B in 1999.[0] According to [1], Netscape was valued at $3B after it's IPO. So in that sense its early investors did well (not so much those who bought at the peak price later in 1995). However the natural follow-on question is did AOL actually get $10B worth of value out of owning Netscape. I would guess not, but I don't know how you'd prove it. [0]: https://web.archive.org/web/20171107021707/http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=741 https://web.archive.org/web/20171107021707/http://news.morni... [1]: https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/08/09/the-ipo-that-inflated-the-dot-com-bubble.aspx https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/08/09/the-ipo-th...

danans 5y ago
> However the natural follow-on question is did AOL actually get $10B worth of value out of owning Netscape. I suppose that at this point it is lost in the digital accounting noise, but I bet there are some people left who saw it happen and have a perspective on it.
- fennecfoxen 5y ago
  I'd say AOL got $10B out of owning Netscape, and then some. They bought Netscape in 1998 and, riding the hype wave, were able to buy Time Warner in 2000 — it was valued at $182 billion, but they paid nothing but AOL shares, which soon demonstrated their near-worthlessness.