Did Zendesk Sell and Eventually Go Private?

Yes, Zendesk went private on November 22, 2022. The company was acquired by a consortium of private equity firms led by Hellman & Friedman and Permira in an all-cash transaction that valued the company at approximately $10.2 billion. As part of the deal, Zendesk shareholders received $77.50 per share in cash.

The acquisition was the culmination of months of pressure from activist investor Jana Partners, which had been pushing for Zendesk to go private. Jana had argued that the company was undervalued as a public company and that it would be better off operating as a private company.

The acquisition of Zendesk is a sign of the growing trend of private equity firms acquiring technology companies. In recent years, private equity firms have acquired a number of high-profile technology companies, including GitHub, SurveyMonkey, and Slack.

How Many Shares Does the CEO have of MongoDB (Dev Ittycheria)

The CEO of MongoDB, Dev Ittycheria, owns 218,085 shares of MongoDB stock. As of July 27, 2023, these shares are worth approximately $89 million. This represents about 0.22% of the company’s outstanding shares.

Ittycheria has been the CEO of MongoDB since 2014. He is also a director of Datadog Inc. and athenahealth Inc. His total yearly compensation is $13.23 million, comprised of 3% salary and 97% bonuses, including company stock and options.

Ittycheria’s ownership of MongoDB stock has increased significantly in recent years. In 2014, he owned just 16,000 shares of the company. However, he has since exercised stock options and purchased additional shares on the open market.

Ittycheria’s ownership of MongoDB stock gives him a significant financial stake in the company’s success. It also gives him a strong voice in the company’s strategic direction.

How Many Shares does Michael Cannon-Brookes own of Atlassian (TEAM)

Michael Cannon-Brookes owns approximately 109.44 million Class B shares and 381,836 Class A shares of Atlassian. This represents approximately 43.08% of Atlassian’s outstanding Class B and Class A ordinary shares, taken together, and approximately 87.91% of the voting power.

In other words, Cannon-Brookes owns about 22% of Atlassian’s total shares, but he has control over about 88% of the company’s voting power. This is because Class B shares have ten times the voting power of Class A shares.

Cannon-Brookes is the co-founder and co-CEO of Atlassian, and he is one of the richest people in Australia. His net worth is estimated to be around $13 billion.

(as at May 2022)

Spotify Reports Strong Second Quarter Results for 2023 – Financials

Spotify, the world’s leading music streaming service, today announced strong financial results for the second quarter of 2023. The company’s revenue grew 11% year-over-year to €3.2 billion, and its monthly active users (MAUs) grew 27% to 551 million. Spotify’s premium subscribers grew 17% to 220 million, and its advertising revenue grew 30% to €243 million.

Spotify’s CEO, Daniel Ek, said that the company is “very pleased” with its second quarter results. He attributed the company’s growth to its “strong global expansion,” its “continued focus on innovation,” and its “growing partnerships with the music industry.”

Ek also said that Spotify is “well-positioned for continued growth in the years to come.” He pointed to the company’s “large and growing user base,” its “strong financial position,” and its “continued investment in innovation” as reasons for his optimism.

Spotify’s results come at a time when the music streaming industry is booming. In 2022, the global music streaming market was worth an estimated $25.6 billion. This is up from just $7.3 billion in 2015. The growth of the music streaming industry is being driven by a number of factors, including the increasing popularity of smartphones and tablets, the growing availability of high-speed internet, and the rising cost of traditional music formats, such as CDs and vinyl.

Spotify is one of the leading players in the music streaming industry. The company has a significant market share in both developed and emerging markets. Spotify is also one of the most innovative companies in the industry. The company has been at the forefront of developing new features, such as personalized playlists and podcasts.

Spotify’s strong financial results and its leading position in the music streaming industry suggest that the company is well-positioned for continued growth in the years to come.

Here are some additional details from the article:

  • Spotify’s adjusted gross margin was 25.5% in the second quarter, which was in line with guidance.
  • Spotify’s adjusted operating loss was €112 million in the second quarter, which was better than guidance.
  • Spotify’s free cash flow was €143 million in the second quarter, which was its highest ever quarterly free cash flow.

Spotify’s management team is optimistic about the company’s future. They said that they expect Spotify to continue to grow its user base and revenue in the years to come. They also said that they are committed to investing in innovation and partnerships with the music industry.thumb_upthumb_downtuneshareGoogle it

NuBank vs Barclays – is NuBank Overvalued?

NuBank (Nu Holdings) is pushing the banking industry in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia.

I have been wanting to invest in NuBank for some time, but I have thought for the past year or so – that their market cap has become so large that they are simply just un-investable at these levels.

To prove this was the case I thought I would do a very simple side by side comparison with a legacy bank that is predominantly in key markets.

MetricNu HoldingsBarclays
Assets Under Management$10.2B$2.3T
Number of Customers30M48M
Revenues$1.2B$25.4B
EBITDA$-78M$9.3B
Countries350
Market Cap$35 billion$28 billion

I know NuBank is in 3 emerging markets – with at least 200 million people in those countries that are currently unbanked. However, even if NuBank was able to have 100 million customers – expand their product lines and then start to really focus on other markets – do you think they can really grow to the AUM or sheer network size of Barclays?

Or is this a perfect short sell position?

Did Atlassian Ever Raise Any Primary Outside Funding

No, Atlassian never raised any primary funding. The company was founded in 2002 by Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, who bootstrapped the company with their own savings. Atlassian went public in 2015, and it has been profitable ever since.

Here are some of the reasons why Atlassian never raised primary funding:

  • The company was founded by two experienced entrepreneurs who had a clear vision for the company.
  • The company’s products were well-received by the market, and they were able to generate enough revenue to self-fund.
  • The company’s founders were reluctant to give up control of the company to outside investors.

Atlassian’s decision to not raise primary funding has been a major factor in its success. The company has been able to maintain its independence and focus on its long-term goals. It has also been able to avoid the dilution of its ownership that often comes with venture capital funding.

How Much Money Did Bird Mobility Raise Before Going Public?

Bird Mobility has to be the biggest bomb of Venture Capital in the past 10 years.

The company was founded in 2017 – and raised $2.25 billion in venture capital before going public in June 2021. Since that time it hasn’t really gone to plan in any way – market, valuation, revenues, operations, etc.

At todays date – Bird which is public on the NYSE under the ticker – BRDS – has a Market Cap of $26 million.

It might as well be worthless at this point!

Apple Share Buybacks Since 2012 – $580 billion

via Commonstock

Since 2012, when Apple’s share count peaked, the company have repurchased more than $580 billion in stock.

That’s ~38% of the outstanding share count in ten years.

Even if the revenues remained flat the share price would increase and you would be far better off purely for holding.

Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway hold a huge number of Apple stock – they must be laughing!

Quick Veeva Systems Company Overview, Its Current Free Cash Flow (FCF) Position and Why It’s Important

Veeva Systems is a cloud-based software company that specializes in providing solutions for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The company’s product portfolio includes solutions for customer relationship management, clinical trial management, and regulatory compliance. Veeva is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol VEEV.

One important metric for evaluating a company’s financial health is free cash flow (FCF), which is the amount of cash a company generates after accounting for capital expenditures. FCF is important because it shows a company’s ability to generate cash and pay dividends or make acquisitions.

Veeva Systems has a strong free cash flow position. In the most recent quarter, Veeva reported a FCF of $284.5 million, up from $221.1 million in the same quarter last year. This represents a 28.5% year-over-year growth in FCF.

This strong FCF position has allowed Veeva to make strategic acquisitions and return cash to shareholders through share buybacks and dividend payments. The company has also been able to invest in research and development and expand its product offerings.

Veeva’s financial position has been supported by its subscription-based business model, which provides a steady stream of recurring revenue. The company has also benefited from the growing demand for cloud-based solutions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

What’s the Difference Between Berkshire Hathaway A Stock and B Stock?

Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company owned by Warren Buffett and is one of the most successful and well-known businesses in the world. The company has two classes of stock, A and B, and the two stocks have some important differences. In this post, we’ll explore the difference between the two types of stock and what that means for investors.

Class A Stock

Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares are the company’s original stock, and are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BRK.A. Class A shares are the most expensive, currently trading around $350,000 per share. The stock is known for its high dividend yield, and investors receive one vote per share when voting at the company’s annual meeting.

Class B Stock

Berkshire Hathaway’s Class B shares are much more affordable, trading around $250 per share. The stock still carries the ticker symbol BRK.B and still pays a dividend, though it is not as high as the Class A stock. In addition, Class B shares only carry one-tenth of the voting power of Class A shares.

Conclusion

Berkshire Hathaway A stock and B stock are two classes of stock offered by the company. Class A stock is the most expensive, but carries more voting power and a higher dividend yield. Class B stock is more affordable and pays a dividend, though it carries much less voting power. Both classes of stock offer investors a chance to benefit from the long-term success of Berkshire Hathaway.

Deliveroo Financials 2020 YOY

Deliveroo is planning to go public at a valuation of around $7 billion USD. Here is a quick breakdown of some of their numbers that have just been released.

  • Gross Transactional Volume (GTV)
    • 2020 – £4.1 billion
    • 2019 – £2.5 billion
  • Gross Profit
    • 2020 – £357.50 million
    • 2019 – £188.70 million
  • Operating Profit / Loss
    • 2020 – £-223.70 million
    • 2019 – £-317.30 million

These number make for hard reading, but it seems like there is a real path towards profitability – but it feels like it is going to really require mass scale of nearly £10 billion per year in GTV to get there.

However, Deliveroo have the ability to start new product lines and delivering in other areas as well as corporate contracts, plus geographic expansion.

Technology stocks are currently dropping fast – so it will be interesting to see if there is an appetite on the London Stock Market for a heavy losing technology company with growing scale.

GME and AMC are Killing Short Sellers and Its Great!

Wallstreetbets is a sub-reddit where they wanted to try to build a community to for the big short sellers out of certain stocks, but what they didn’t realise is that they can really kill these companies with the power of the retail investors.

Short Seller percentages of outstanding stock:

  • GME = 102% Short Sellers
  • AMC = 18% Short Sellers

Most companies tend to be below 2% in short sellers.

At the time of writing this GME is up to $337 per share (up 128% in one day) and AMC 19.35 per share (up 286% in one day).

The community seems to be using their retail power to try to force these short sellers out of the market and make them bankrupt.

Stick it to the man!

Is the S&P 500 Over Weighted in Tech Stocks or Not?

The S&P 500 is an index of some of the leading companies in the United States. The S&P 500 doesn’t push extremely high in one area as its supposed to show a cross section of America.

Here is the breakdown the S&P 500 by Market Sector:

As you can see there is a very broad cross section of companies in all sectors of America. Technology is the leading sector, but it’s not the whole S&P 500.

Tesla Shares See Their Biggest Ever Single Day Decline!

Tesla shares have finished the day at 21.06% down. This is the biggest single day share decline for the company in its history.

Why this matters: Tesla is a company going after a big dream. However, it also seems to be the company that is riding a very high valuation based on very little fundamental numbers being it. Revenues have increase 14% in the past 12 months, but the share price has increased 573%.

My views: I love the company and I love what they are trying to achieve, but it seems like they have become the poster child for a heavily overpriced stock market based on poor fundamentals.

What is the Difference Between Berkshire Hathaway BRK.A and BRK.B Shares?

There is very little difference between Berkshire Hathaway’s BRK.A and BRK.B shares.

BRK.B shares were created because Warren Buffett noticed that the BRK.A shares were growing considerable high is cost per share and that these shares were less obtainable by the average retail investor and could only be purchased by either very wealth individuals, unit trusts or mutual funds.

Thus, Warren decided to create BRK.B shares to provide the average investor with the opportunity to purchase shares in Berkshire Hathaway without the huge cost associated with BRK.A.

There are other very small differences, but the above is the only one that really counts.

Asana Files to Go Public via Direct Listing on NYSE – Asana by Numbers!

Asana is one of the world’s most popular project and task management software (we use Asana in our office). A week ago Asana filed to go public on the New York Stock Exchange.

Instead of an IPO – Asana has elected to file for a direct listing (which means that they aren’t selling any new shares in the listing only the existing ones).

By the numbers:

  • For the year ending Jan. 31, 2020, Asana had a loss of $118.6 million on $142.6 million in revenue. For the year ending Jan. 31, 2019, it lost $50.9 million on $76.8 million in revenue.
  • The company says it has more than 3.2 million free account users and 75,000 paying customers with a total of 1.2 million paying users across 190 countries.
  • Asana’s biggest shareholders are co-founder and CEO Dustin Moskovitz, Benchmark Capital, Generation Management, and Founders Fund.
  • According to its most recent secondary trades, Asana’s stock traded at a volume-weighted average price of $15.82 in fiscal 2020, $15.98 in Q1 2021, and $17.26 in Q2 2021.