Zillow Inc (NASDAQ:Z)’s CEO Spencer Rascoff on Monday unleashed a series of tweets about the nature of IPO offerings in what is colloquially called a “twitterstorm”. The 25-tweet barrage, which included direct references to several companies, may have made the board members of other companies break out in a cold sweat, but according to Rascoff, that’s simply representative of the culture that surrounds Zillow Inc (NASDAQ:Z). He spoke with CNBC today about his use of Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) and IPO’s.
“This is the way Zillow was run and this is what Zillow is all about. Zillow was about information transparency. We try to shine a bright light on information and data about the real estate market. It’s the way we run the company internally and externally, and so for us, our embrace of social media, both mine personally as well as the company’s embrace of social media is just an extension of the way we run the company,” Rascoff said.
He added that Zillow Inc (NASDAQ:Z) has long been at the forefront of social media use, including being the first company to include their Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) handle on the cover of a SEC filing, as well as the first company to take questions over Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) during earnings calls.
In the matter of his recent twitterstorm, Rascoff raised the issue of how the viability of IPO’s tend to get simplified down to one or two key questions among analysts and media, which are often the right ones, and that having the right answer to those questions tends to determine success or failure in a stock.
In the case of the looming Alibaba IPO, he says the main questions will be related to their valuation and the transparency of their financials. The Zillow Inc (NASDAQ:Z) CEO added during the interview that initially, IPO’s tend to be driven by a supply and demand aspect that is separate from any questions or valuation concerns that might be raised, before settling down.
The Tudor Investment Corp hedge fund managed by Paul Tudor Jones recently took a position in Zillow Inc (NASDAQ:Z), adding it to their portfolio during the last quarter according to their June 30, 13F filing.
Disclosure: none
Suggested Articles:
Most Expensive Currency In the World
