Jun 30, 2019

Will there be a direct-listing IPO?

Felix Salmon

There are 3 ways that a company can go public: a traditional IPO, a Dutch auction (Google being the prime example), or a direct listing.

Graphic: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Between the lines: There's a catch with direct listings, however: The way that SEC regulations are currently set up, companies can't raise any money that way. The question, asks Axios' Dan Primack, is whether that can change, with corporations issuing stock into a direct listing. His answer: Yes, probably.

  • The highest hurdle would be finding a company that wants to do it. Most companies don't want the hassle of working out all the complications with SEC officials.
  • The most likely candidate: Airbnb is going public in the next year, more likely in Q1 2020 than in Q4 2019. It's unclear whether CFO Dave Stephenson has the appetite to blaze a new trail.

The bottom line: Just because it can be done doesn't mean it will be done. VC-backed unicorns rarely extend their "disruption" philosophy to their own securities.

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Axios

Coronavirus updates: New global case numbers surpass China's

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's Health Ministry. Note: China numbers are for the mainland only and U.S. numbers include repatriated citizens.

The novel coronavirus is now affecting every continent but Antarctica and the WHO said Wednesday the number of new cases reported outside China has exceeded those inside the country for the first time.

The big picture: COVID-19 has killed more than 2,800 people and infected over 82,000 others in some 50 countries and territories. As Denmark and Estonia both reported their first cases on Thursday, Scott Morrison, prime minister of Australia — which has 23 confirmed cases — told a news conference, "The risk of a global pandemic is very much upon us."

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Mass shooting in Milwaukee: What we know so far

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in 2012. Photo: John Gress/Corbis via Getty Images

Six people died in a shooting at the Molson Coors Brewing Company in Milwaukee Molson Coors on Wednesday, including the 51-year-old gunman, Mayor Tom Barrett told reporters at an evening press conference with local police.

Details: All of the victims worked at the brewery complex, as did the shooter who died of "an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, police confirmed in a statement late Wednesday.

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WHO official leads criticism of Trump's coronavirus response

President Trump with members of the new coronavirus task force, including Vice President Mike Pence at the White House on Wednesday. Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, special advisor to the director general of the World Health Organization, told MSNBC Wednesday he found "most" of what President Trump said at his briefing on the novel coronavirus "incoherent."

The big picture: As the number of confirmed cases reaches 60 in the U.S., the top health professional — who was a health policy adviser in the Obama administration — is among several leading figures, in particular, Democrats, to criticize the president for his response to the outbreak.

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