US IPO issuance—the total dollar amount of new stock sold to the public via IPOs—hit a record high in 2026.

See how SpaceX compares to history's other largest IPOs.

More than 650 companies went public in the US in 1996

As the dot-com bubble reached its peak, most dot-com companies went public with little proof of being profitable and were often overvalued. In 1999, the Nasdaq's price-to-earnings ratio (a tool used to determine a stock's value that divides its price by earnings) hit 90.2, signaling that many companies were operating at a net loss. Startups promised investors that more time and money would help scale their businesses and become profitable.

Initial public offering (IPO) is the term for when a company goes public

When a company completes its IPO, it's no longer a privately owned organization. Anyone can invest in the company by buying its shares on the stock market—opening up ownership of the business to the general public.

The number of publicly traded companies has decreased in recent years.

In 1996, more than 7,300 companies traded publicly on US stock markets, but that number has recently dropped to 4,300. Economists point to two reasons: First, going public requires full disclosure of operations, exposing it to scrutiny from investors, competitors, and analysts. Second, the IPO process is expensive and time-consuming.

An initial public offering is how a private company becomes public.

Global investing in startups hit a record $297B in Q1 2026

The level of startup funding around the world broke all previous records in Q1 2026 by a significant margin: Only $118B was raised in the previous quarter, and Q1's haul outpaced every full year of global VC activity before 2019. The increase was partly due to the enormous funding rounds from AI companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic.

See the 25 largest initial public offerings in US history.

These 25 companies—which include UPS, Uber Technologies, AT&T, and The Kraft Heinz Co.—had some of the biggest IPO drops in US history. However, not all these drops led to long-term (or even immediate) success.

2023's worst performing US IPOs

While an IPO is a huge milestone, it isn't always a total success in the long-term. This data visualization shows some of the worst-performing IPOs of 2023, based on their percentage returns at the end of the year, It includes an NFT gaming company and a Chinese EV battery company.

It's difficult for individual investors to purchase IPO shares

Although the process of going public means the general public can invest in a company, the initial investment period is different. Before individual investors get in on the action, investment bankers sell the shares to larger financial institutions who can afford the asking price and risk associated with an IPO.

Millions of Americans will be invested in SpaceX because of the fast-tracked process to list SpaceX on the Nasdaq 100, and, subsequently, the index funds that track it.

Ride along on one coffee company's journey through the stock market to better understand how a company goes from private to public.

Companies go public via an initial public offering (IPO) to raise large amounts of capital, helping them expand, invest in new ventures, hire more staff, or pay off debts.

An S-1 reveals financial and other details to the public, often for the first time, when filing for an IPO

To file for an IPO, a company must file a registration form called an S-1 or prospectus with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. S-1s detail a company's current business model, competitive landscape, and other financial information.

Read about the day Palantir went public in 2020

After more than 15 years in business, Palantir held its initial public offering (IPO) via a direct listing—meaning the company didn't rely on underwriters to assess the initial trading price or stock value. Palantir's stock ended the day trading 31% higher than the reference price.

SpaceX's S-1 or 'prospectus' revealed many previously unknown details about the company

Those revelations include the company's unprofitability despite doing $18.7B in revenue in 2025, exactly how many voting shares Elon Musk will have in the company (roughly 85%), and more.

Companies pay multiple fees as part of the IPO process

When a company decides to approach IPO, it typically hires investment bankers—who earn about 7% of the IPO’s gross proceeds—to help set the organization’s target valuation range and schedule an IPO date. But that isn't the only fee associated with the IPO process.

IPOs that failed

Plenty of private companies fail once they try to go public. Failing can mean shares sell for less than their initial asking price on its IPO date, or it can look like a company pulling out of the IPO process at the last minute. Some companies with failed IPOs include Pets.com, Etsy, and Robinhood. Learn more about these companies and others here.

In 2023, venture capital firms invested $170B in over 15,000 US companies

That's a significant drop from 2022’s $242B, reflecting market uncertainty but continuing VC’s role in scaling transformative ideas. Rooted in early risk-sharing models, venture capital took off with firms like ARDC in 1946, later evolving into today’s influential players like Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz.

Many investment bankers work on IPOs

When a company undertakes an IPO, investment banks often buy many of the organization’s shares directly from the company, in order to sell the shares on the stock market. The bank stands to profit after marking up the shares.

Smaller companies’ IPO information can be hard to track down

This calendar keeps you updated on the current IPO dates and pricing from different companies. You can search for upcoming and future IPO dates and see which companies withdrew from the IPO process.

The 'big bang' of the dot-com era: Netscape's stock price doubled on the day of its initial public offering

The company behind the browser that revolutionized search went public on August 9, 1995. Just before the IPO, the company increased its initial opening price from $14 to $28. On the day the company went public, shares traded as high as $71 before closing at $58.25. The company's market capitalization exceeded $2B. The eye-popping IPO is largely considered the beginning of the dot-com bubble.

Angel investors funded startups with nearly $28B in 2024

Statistics about the angel investing market show that billions are spent funding early-stage startups each year. Companies with more angel interest had higher success rates.

Some companies like to make their IPO day antics unique.

An article details some of the wildest bell-ringing day stunts in recent history, from Clifford the Big Red Dog ringing the opening bell to one company's employees roasting marshmallows in a campfire on Wall Street as it went public.

71% of equity investments in Q1 2025 went to AI companies

That's up from just 14% in 2020, according to JPMorgan, which recently conducted an analysis of venture capital investment trends in the US.

Going public has pros and cons for a company.

An organization transfers ownership over to new shareholders—who could be anyone—following its IPO date. However, going public expands a company's ability to increase funding and grow its business. This guide dives into the advantages and disadvantages of going public, and what those pros and cons can mean for investors.

Just because a big name company is going public doesn’t guarantee a successful stock

A reporter dove into how highly anticipated IPOs can still be risky, and why retail investors should be wary of investing right away.

Airbnb’s S-1 in 2020 revealed how it weathered the pandemic and its financials

An S-1 or prospectus is a registration form filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission when a company wants to go public. They can be pretty juicy documents, as S-1s can reveal previously private details about companies to the public, often for the first time.

Google had a quirky, auction-based IPO.

In its sixth year, Google's shareholders reached a size where regulators would require the company to publicly report its financials. This prompted the company to go public through an unconventional style: the Dutch auction. The company auctioned its shares starting from a high price and dropping to a lower level.

The number of publicly traded companies has decreased significantly

The stock market hit a peak in 1996, when more than 7,000 companies were publicly traded. But in 2024, there were nearly half that many publicly traded companies.

Bumble went public with an IPO in 2021

That year, Bumble Founder Whitney Wolfe Herd became the youngest female CEO to ever take a company public. The company pivoted during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, focusing its marketing strategy on promoting social-distanced dating and its video chat features.

The cryptocurrency equivalent of going public

An initial coin offering (ICO) is cryptocurrency's version of an initial public offering (IPO). Similar to the way a company offers shares on the stock market for the first time, ICOs occur when a cryptocurrency company seeks to raise funding for a new coin, app, or service. If you're entering the field, get the details on how it all works.

Robinhood's mission of democratizing finance included its IPO

In 2021, investing app Robinhood went public—and decided to go about its IPO process differently. Unlike other companies, it opened up its IPO for the general public to purchase right away. A podcast episode explains what made Robinhood's IPO so unique prior to its launch date.

Book building is widely considered the most efficient way to price securities

During the book-building process, bankers determine an IPO’s price per share, requesting bids from fund managers and other institutional investors for the number of shares they want and how much they’d be willing to pay for them.

Retail investing by the numbers

When average Americans began pouring into the stock market, Wall Street wasn’t sure if its new guests were there to stay. But at the end of 2023, Public confidently declared that retail investors “weren’t going anywhere” after 30 million new individuals began buying and selling stock. Download the report to learn more here.

The world's 50 most valuable private companies

While public companies typically have the highest valuations, private companies get close. This list breaks down the top 50 as of 2025, with SpaceX at the top with a value of $350B, followed by ByteDance. Over three-fifths of the list are located in the US, with eight in China.

The first-ever IPO was issued by the Dutch East India Co., a spice company.

It first offered shares to the public in the 1600s on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange to help finance its passages. The Dutch East India Co. succeeded in part due to its monopolistic hold over the East Indies at the time.

In 2024, US private equity posted an 8.1% return

Tracked by Cambridge Associates, 2024 performance saw limited partner distributions overtake contributions for the first time in years. Cambridge Associates, a leader in the space, typically uses a 2.0x+ MOIC (Multiple on Invested Capital) as a benchmark for top-quartile PE fund success.

In late 2025, the top 10 companies in the S&P 500 made up more than 40% of the index's total value

This raised concerns for investors about the index's risk exposure. As many large tech companies continued posting record highs, analysts argued that the top-heavy index was becoming less representative of the economy as a whole.