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What Does the LinkedIn IPO Signify?

Mark Glaser

by Mark Glaser, May 25, 2011

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Last week when business social networking site LinkedIn went public, the stock shot up from $45 per share to more than $90, and even today is trading at $96-plus per share. The company's valuation is more than $9 billion, even though the company had earnings of just $15.4 million last year. That kind of eye-popping debut on the public markets has business journalists wondering if a tech bubble is back. Sure, things are different now, and not every Tom, Dick and Pets.com is trying for an IPO as in the last bubble. But you can bet your bottom dollar that any company with a social media angle will be considering going public now. Already, social gaming company Zynga is considering filing to go public next month.

What do you think the LinkedIn IPO signifies in the long run? Is it a return to the dot-com craze, a social media bubble or something else? Vote in our poll or explain your position in detail in the comments.


Further Reading

> Mediatwits #8: LinkedIn's Bubbly IPO; Grueskin on the New York World at MediaShift

> LinkedIn IPO Soars, Feeding Web Boom WSJ

> Lessons Learned from LinkedIn's Blockbuster IPO at Atlantic Wire

> Zynga, Maker of Facebook Games, Plans an IPO at Bloomberg

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