Should Google Go Public?

from the the-big-question dept

Red Herring takes a look at the question of whether or not Google should go public. Certainly, there are plenty of investors who think so. People seem to believe that a Google IPO would be a definite success - and that it might open the window to a few other successful private tech companies, such as Salesforce.com. The thinking then goes, if there are a couple of strong tech/internet IPOs, we might then go back to a happier world where tech companies (and their venture capitalists) can go back to cashing out. The problem with this fantasy is that there's really no reason for Google to go public right now (other than to make their investors and founders phenomenally wealthy). They don't need money. They don't need the prestige. They don't need the "legitimacy" that being public is supposed to provide. They're pretty set right now. Besides, as the article points out, even if there are a couple of successful tech IPOs right now, it's not like there are another 20 companies that are ready to go IPO. So, this isn't likely to open any kind of floodgate.

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