With the LinkedIn IPO, is Wall Street back to its bad old ways? | FT Tech Hub | FTtechhub - Industry analysis – FT.com

Another LinkedIn IPO perspective

Google tried to set things right with an auction-style IPO to match supply and demand more closely. But Wall Street’s lock on the process is as strong as ever.

Based on the early action in the LinkedIn stock, the underwriters could easily have priced it at $70 or even $80 rather than $45, says Ryan Jacob, an internet fund manager in California (he says he didn’t buy the stock.)

To put it in perspective: $400m is four times the total amount that LinkedIn raised to get through its first eight years as a private company. That sort of money will certainly focus the mind for IPOs to come – and should bring greater use of the auction approach.

With the LinkedIn IPO, is Wall Street back to its bad old ways? | FT Tech Hub | FTtechhub - Industry analysis – FT.com