There have been many recent IPOs over the past several months. The popular ones include CoreWeave in March, Figma in July, and Klarna last week. After many years of waiting, the proverbial IPO window is open.
Actions to Take
As an employee of a now-publicly traded company, you have to think about the share price, taxes, and how to manage your share ownership. There’s a lot of emotion wrapped up in all of these factors.
Additionally, companies that undergo recent IPOs typically have a period known as the lock up, where employees cannot sell shares on the open market for some time. Typically, this timeframe is six months.
Lock Up Periods of Recent IPOs
Lately there have been some exceptions to the lock up period. Klarna does not have a typical lockup period. If you are an employee you are free to sell your shares now until September 30th! This is remarkable! You can monetize your ownership if you wish. After September 30th, trading is limited to quarterly windows, a usual custom for public companies.
The Figma lockup is quite complicated. It expired for 25% of employees on Sept 4th. However, 54% of Class A shareholders agreed to a longer lockup period that continues with various breakpoints until Aug 2026.
This is a tricky situation. If you are a Figma shareholder, and have questions about this, call me! We can figure out what to do.
The CoreWeave lockup expired Aug 14th, so as an employee, you are free to sell, but you must follow your company guidelines for doing so. Your share ownership can do a lot for you, so what do you desire?
Upcoming Public Offerings
There are several expected IPOs – fintech darling, Stripe, AI standout, Databricks, and fast fashion firm, Shein. As an employee of these companies, what do you want to do with your shares when there is an up-to-the-second market that tells you how much money you have? What kind of organization do you need to do before the IPO? Perhaps these companies will follow different rules for their lockup period.
Regardless of your situation – upcoming or recent IPO – what can you do to prepare for a very important event in your financial life?