Morgan Stanley banker Michael Grimes led the public offering for the young company behind the Google search engine twenty years ago. He was offered a new email service and chose [email protected]. Google’s cofounder, Sergey Brin, warned him about potential spam on Gmail.
Grimes regrets passing up the email address, but the IPO solidified his reputation as “Wall Street’s Silicon Valley whisperer” during the tech industry’s transformation of global investments. Google’s IPO, which has grown by 7,600% in the last two decades, is considered significant. The total market value of companies Grimes took public is in the trillions of dollars, with some IPOs being tumultuous like Facebook’s in 2012.
Google’s IPO in 2004 marked the beginning of its growth under Alphabet, now worth over $2 trillion. Besides search and advertising, Google expanded into YouTube, smartphones, cloud computing, and self-driving cars. The Department of Justice may even consider splitting up the tech giant due to its vast reach.
Google’s unconventional IPO process, which utilized a Dutch auction, aimed to make investing more accessible. Despite skepticism from some institutions, the IPO was successful, generating significant returns and market capitalization over $27 billion. Google’s IPO paved the way for democratizing elements in subsequent high-profile listings like Airbnb, Uber, Lyft, and Robinhood.
The impact of Google’s philosophy of “don’t be evil” is complex. Today, Google faces criticism for hindering innovation and its core businesses like search and advertising are encountering significant challenges.
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