- Previously scheduled to March, Airbnb’s IPO was on hold due to the pandemic’s effects on the company’s business;
- CEO Brian Chesky told employees on a videoconference this week that Airbnb was “not committing to going public this year, but we’re not ruling it out, either.”
Airbnb‘s CEO Brian Chesky told employees on a videoconference on Wednesday that is reconsidering its plans to go public, in spite of losses caused by the pandemic.
“We’re not committing to going public this year, but we’re not ruling it out, either,” Chesky said in the meeting, as first reported by NYT. “When the market is ready, we will be ready, because Airbnb was down but we were not out.”
The home rental company had previously scheduled its IPO to March but set aside those plans as soon as the pandemic started to put travel on hold around the world. From then on, Airbnb has cut costs, raised an emergency fund, and laid off 25% of its staff, in addition to adjustments introduced by the company, such as new cleaning protocols and a vertical for virtual experiences.
“This is something I never would have imagined telling you,” Airbnb’s CEO told employees at the meeting. “It kind of defies logic in a way.”
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The San-Francisco based giant has also announced on Tuesday that for the first time since March, guests booked more than 1 million nights in a span of 24 hours. “Our business has not recovered, but we are seeing encouraging signs,” stated the company. “On July 8, guests booked more than 1 million nights’ worth of future stays at Airbnb listings around the world. It’s the first day in more than four months, since March 3, that the 1 million nights threshold has been reached.”
