How To Guide For: A Look At IPO -- What Is This

An IPO is an initial public offering which is the first sale of stock by a company to the public. A company can raise money by issuing either debt or equity. If the company has never issued equity to the public, it's known as an IPO. Companies fall into two broad categories: private and public. A public company must have a board of directors and they must report financial information every quarter. In the U.S. public companies report to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). So why do companies go public. Going public has it's benefits like for starters it helps to raise cash. Being publicly traded also opens many financial doors. Another benefit to going public is that the company is now on a major stock exchange. The reason why I wanted to discuss IPO is because Snapchat now Snap Inc. is preparing for an IPO. According to The Wall Street Journal the shares could possibly start selling in March. To get more information on what an IPO is -- click on the pictures below to read the articles.