During the dot-com bubble of the s, the biggest gains came after companies went public. These days, far more wealth is being created as private companies raise financing from venture-capital firms, pushing valuations of those companies higher and higher. As a result, investors are clamoring to get in on the action right now. Uber, Snapchat and Airbnb are among the many privately held companies that set tight limits on selling shares. Few companies make it easy for outsiders to buy stock.

Many individual investors turn to market makers such as SharesPost and SecondMarket.

Well-connected investors sometimes get access to special funds created by firms that get privately held shares directly from companies.

Privately held companies generally are waiting longer to go public than they used to, which frustrates some employees who hope to boost the value of their holdings through an initial public offering.

How do pre-IPO options work as part of the job offer from a startup company? How is the value calculated? I am offered 20, options valued at $million. What does this mean? : startups

Prices used in transactions can be based on little more than a guess, since private companies keep almost all their financial information secret. Fees can be high because of the runaway demand for pre-IPO shares and effort involved in arranging transactions.

Many of the companies are young and unprofitable. While buying and selling opening hours hong kong stock exchange stock is permitted under federal and state rules for unregistered securities, the Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a handful of enforcement actions pre-ipo share options to pre-IPO trading.

The Value of Stock Options: A Key Component in the Pre-IPO Employee Value Proposition | The Croner Company

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