Airbnb Leans Toward Direct Listing Over Traditional IPO
- Spotify and Slack have opted for similar path to public market
- Hot IPOs of this year, like Uber, Lyft have had a chilly debut
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Airbnb Inc.’s long-awaited Wall Street debut is officially earmarked for 2020, but the home-share startup is charting an unconventional path to the public markets.
San Francisco-based Airbnb is laying the groundwork for a direct listing rather than an initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named discussing private information. Airbnb declined to comment.