Yes, but it’s a little worse than that. One might take that to mean environmental, congenital, or even genetic factors. But there’s more. Consider the role that trauma has to play here as it can directly cause arrested psychological development:
I mean, maybe if you bake a stone cold potato that was in the fridge and then cook it for two hours? But even then we’re probably talking about a handful of minutes at the most.
Which
car companybar did you say you work for?
A major one.
Oh right, that actually makes sense. He had a voice acting part in the last game IIRC.
I think it’s more than that.
The price for these shares is probably not cheap for the individual, but won’t raise a ton of money internally in the grand scheme of things. At least, that’s how it works for employee options and phantom stock. The disparity here is due it’s utility as a retention mechanism. The idea is that, if invested, you’re less likely to jump ship until after IPO. With options and phantom stock, they typically have a “vestment period”, so you have to wait before you can get your money back out.
In this case, Reddit knows it needs its moderators and power users, but can’t afford to employ those people. So we get this weird middle-ground where they entice people to stick around, but they’re still not employees. As a bonus to Reddit Inc., these “investors” will provide ballast for the IPO, because I’m betting this stuff has a vestment period that extends well past the IPO date. Seeing this all on a balance sheet will make other investors feel a lot better about buying or even holding shares when the IPO kicks off.
What I really don’t like about this is that they mention the “DSP” and define it, but are coy about what the actual investment instrument is. What kind of shares are these? What is the price per share?
Did you post a lot? Do you have email notifications turned on?
My old account has… a lot (six digits worth), of comment karma. But I think I posted a grand total of three times in the last ten years or so. I also have notifications turned off. So, no IPO notification for me.
I can only conclude that this is some kind of scam
That depends on your framing.
Is it a legitimate attempt to sell shares? Absolutely. Completely legal, disregarding OP’s claim of a GDPR violation. There might be wiggle-room to suggest this is some flavor of price manipulation, but I’m not a lawyer or SEC investigator. In order to IPO, there’s a compliance framework that makes this functionally identical to any other IPO on the market.
Are some people who buy this IPO going to be left holding the bag? In a round-about “we’re all playing the same game, but also not” way, yes. For an instant, people will be holding shares in Reddit at the IPO price, and speculation on value will drive that up on the back of the IPO itself. It might plummet later the same day, it may not. But what is going to really burn people is when the primary shareholders “cash out” and sell a huge chunk of that stock. That usually has the effect of signaling that the company isn’t worth what it was anymore. It’s a gamble where the house can destroy your bid before you can manage to pawn your chips off onto the next guy.
From a spectator standpoint, where this may get interesting is where Reddit IPO intersects with r/wallstreetbets.
Edit: dividends are also a thing, but I never hear about that outside of what mutual funds and 401ks are up to. As someone who has no idea how Reddit does or can actually make money, I’m going to guess that’s not going to be a benefit of being a long-term shareholder.
Sorry to hear about your friend. While I’m no doctor, that seems to fit the bill to me. I’ve known people that had other trauma when young, and yeah, maintaining healthy relationships seems to be the hardest thing for them. Your story reminded me of a lot.