WSJ: FINANCIAL FLASHBACK: Alibaba Becomes Largest U.S. IPO
Until 2014, American companies dominated the bulk of U.S. tech-company IPOs. Then came the initial public offering of China-based Alibaba in September 2014, raising $21.8 billion — making it the world’s largest IPO at the time. (It was surpassed in 2019 by Aramco.)
On Day 1 of the stock trading in the U.S., Alibaba’s share price closed at $93.89, which was 38% higher than the opening price of $68. .
The stock peaked in October 2020 when it had gained over 250% excluding dividends, Yahoo data shows. Since then, share prices slid to $78 recently. Read more here.
John and I discuss British-born author Patrick O’Brian who lived in French coastal town Collioure for more than half a century. He’s the author a series of books about Britain’s Royal Navy.
Traditionally, UK employers have wanted new hires to stick around for at least a few years. Late last decade, the average tenure of a UK employee was five years. But the job market keeps shifting—fast.
According to a new survey, more than half (53%) of UK workers report quitting their job within the first six months. Read more here.
Quitting the job that’s killing your soul! It’s one of those seemingly ever-present fantasies of office workers. But to leave without a net that’s unnerving to the vast majority of people. Yet it’s what long-time radio host Tess Vigeland did. She recently wrote a book about her experience: Leap: Leaving a Job with No Plan B to Find the Career and Life You Really Want.
Unlike many confessional books, this one won’t tell you how easy it was. Or that the post-quit euphoria just kept on going for months. Or that everyone should do it because, hey, what the hell. No, the story here is quite different. If you believe Vigeland, it’s hard work, and there will be loads of anxiety. It will upend your life in ways you never imagined.
Things like that make this book more believable than some self-help books urging you to make your way in the world — it’ll be like riding a bicycle, as such books seem to promise. Except they gloss over the time when you scrape the skin off your knees. Or they seem to leave out something that you can’t quite put your finger on. For instance, who’s paying the mortgage while all this quitting is happening? Or where did all the money necessary to sustain eating every day come from?
In some ways, Vigeland’s work is the antidote to “the easy route to happiness” books, which imply you can do everything (wealth, harmony, and relaxation) if only you’d follow a few simple rules. Such promises are chimeras.
The worries about money, career, and leaving what, for many, would seem like a dream job are what Vigeland focuses on. It is her self-perceived shortcomings that make the story so much more realistic and so much more relatable. She becomes something more than the voice we remember from the radio — a three-dimensional individual, just like the rest of us. On top of that, the willingness to open up, in a warts and all way, is a sign of herculean strength. Have you ever noticed that the people who never admit to their failures are, deep down, the weakest? She’s the opposite.
I’d say after her experiences, leaping and then writing this book, Vigeland will be unstoppable.
.jpg)
.jpg)
