Paypal Really Going Public?

from the calling-their-bluff dept

When Paypal first filed to go public, many people thought it was a bluff. They were simply trying to attract interest from a company who would acquire them instead. However, it seems that their bluff has been called and they might actually go public. It will be very interesting to see how well it does, as they'll be the first real "internet" company to go public in a very long time. If it takes off, it could mean that others (Google) will try to head out as well, and that could make the internet world a little more comfortable again. Of course, that doesn't mean Paypal is a company worth buying into, but it will be a leading indicator, and I imagine a number of venture capitalists, investment bankers, and others who hold loads of private dot com equity are holding their collective breath to see what happens.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    SB, 17 Dec 2001 @ 10:34am

    google != paypal

    paypal is a real company. perfectly scalable business. zero inventory. minimal overhead. etc they skim off millions of transactions, and will make money, and are a viable company.

    google is a great search site, but still a dumb ad based web site. i wouldnt invest in that


    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2001 @ 12:49pm

    paypal's bad rep....

    paypal needs to clean house a little before they IPO.

    There is an ever growing group of people who have been screwed by paypal (or by those who were able to take advantage of them using paypal) and it is *very* important to remember that paypal is *not* a bank or a credit agency, which gives the paypal consumer very little protection.

    In particular, paypal needs to improve their relationship with those that use it as a business. That's job #1 if they ever plan on displacing the credit bureaus and bank accounts they currently depend upon to refresh the accounts from which they skim on transactions and make interest from.

    Beyond that, I'd only be interested in their stock as an acquistion target for Verisign or one of the less clueful credit bureaus who haven't been successful in spinning up their own service.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    sb, 17 Dec 2001 @ 2:47pm

    Re: paypal's bad rep....

    clearly you got scammed by some ebay seller. your gullibility isnt paypals fault. paypal paid someone that YOU TOLD THEM TO. its nobodys fault but YOURS. did the other party get the money? yes? then paypal did held up their end 100% and earned their 2% fee.

    PS: wake up, newbie, they couldnt care less about relationships, and cleaning house, and acquisions. ipo = cash out. dump every share you can to sucker buyers. money created out of thin air. thats the name of the game in the go go fake stock bubble era.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    sb, 17 Dec 2001 @ 7:59pm

    HOW COOL IS THS ! !!!!

    keyword seaches on scanned in catalogs !!
    wont make a dime off it
    but, what a KILLER service/app


    http://catalogs.google.com/catalogs?q=fleece+jacket&btnG=Google+Search

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.