Reddit plans to place a big chunk of its IPO shares in the hands of its users, an unusual move that could build loyalty but also comes with risk.

The company plans to reserve an as-yet-undetermined number of shares for 75,000 of its most prolific so-called redditors when it goes public next month, according to people familiar with the matter. The users will have the opportunity to buy Reddit shares at its initial public offering price before the stock starts trading, a privilege normally reserved only for big investors.

Ideally for the company and its underwriters, Reddit shares will rise in their stock-market debut, bestowing big gains on those who buy in at the IPO price. If the stock falls, however, it could anger those members of Reddit’s community—a group that, broadly speaking, hasn’t shied away from boycotts in the past.

Banks generally favor selling the bulk of an IPO to big money managers that tend to hold stocks for a relatively long time. Individual investors are viewed as more fickle and prone to selling at the first sign of weakness.

    • zifnab25 [he/him, any]@hexbear.netEnglish
      32·
      9 months ago

      It won’t be immediately. This is going to be a pump and dump, but I guarantee you there’s going to be a set of first wave investors who watch the stock price go vertical for a few weeks at least.

      Also, non-zero chance we get the kind of blatant stockmarket manipulation that gave us Tesla, Gamestop, and Best Buy short squeezes.

      • davel [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
        29·
        9 months ago

        Prediction: Consent will be manufactured on Reddit for these marks to HODL until they’re left HODLing the bag.

      • zed_proclaimer [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
        5·
        9 months ago

        The manipulation was stopping the GameStop short squeeze, not causing it. Robin Hood turned off the ability for users to buy the stock, but kept the ability to sell it, something they had never done before or after. They have heavy investments with the Hedge Funds that were losing big on the squeeze, so they stepped in illegally to stem the bleeding. The squeeze was organic, stopping the squeeze was manipulation.

        • zifnab25 [he/him, any]@hexbear.netEnglish
          2·
          9 months ago

          The manipulation was stopping the GameStop short squeeze, not causing it.

          There was manipulation on both ends. But the initial squeeze was a very deliberately orchestrated attempt by a few major holding firms - Fidelity, Blackrock, and Vanguard most notably - to inflate a bubble and organize a graceful exit from their long GME position.

          Robin Hood turned off the ability for users to buy the stock

          Because their parent company, Citadel, realized these other firms were fucking them with their own app.

          But by then most of the damage had been done and the major stock holders had re-positioned themselves. A bunch of retail investors got caught with some of the bag, but they were incidental in the clash of industry titans.

          The squeeze was organic

          Anyone who points to a shift on the order of several hundred million dollars in a matter of days and says “Organic” is a sucker.