The Minutes of Bill Gurley on direct listing https://minutesof.com/bill-gurley/on/direct-listing/ Everything Bill Gurley has said on direct listing: 17 verbatim quotes between September 2019 and February 2026, each with a timestamp and a link to the… en Sun, 30 Aug 2026 16:21:59 +0000 Gurley argues IPOs should match supply and demand through bidding rather than bankers handpicking prices. https://minutesof.com/q/67c8c5c8-b48a-46b3-a440-d13eba3c321e/ https://minutesof.com/q/67c8c5c8-b48a-46b3-a440-d13eba3c321e/ “if you ask any first year comp sci student and first year finance student to write a model of how an IPO should work, you would allow everyone to bid and you would award the shares to the highest bidder. It's just not like, it's not, it should just be tautological.” — Brew Markets Fri, 27 Feb 2026 20:28:10 +0000 direct listing Gurley argues the IPO process is broken due to regulatory capture and most people don't understand how it actu https://minutesof.com/q/9a394fb2-90fc-4946-838f-d8f08883cd9f/ https://minutesof.com/q/9a394fb2-90fc-4946-838f-d8f08883cd9f/ “I think the IPO process almost certainly also because of regulatory capture is remarkably broken. I don't actually think the average citizen even knows.” — Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin Thu, 12 Feb 2026 16:34:22 +0000 direct listing Gurley argues citizens mistakenly believe IPOs work like direct listings with price-based allocation. https://minutesof.com/q/f3fc5ca8-8916-4c4d-ac0a-cb2865cdd700/ https://minutesof.com/q/f3fc5ca8-8916-4c4d-ac0a-cb2865cdd700/ “I think they think a bunch of people put orders in, you sort them based on who's willing to pay the highest price” — Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin Thu, 12 Feb 2026 16:34:22 +0000 direct listing Gurley argues direct listings use supply and demand pricing like bonds, which is how markets should work. https://minutesof.com/q/77590e77-8d48-46c9-a7f2-620491d6e9d8/ https://minutesof.com/q/77590e77-8d48-46c9-a7f2-620491d6e9d8/ “You can actually use supply and demand to determine price and allocation. And that's what the direct listing does. That's how every bond is priced.” — CNBC Television Tue, 28 Sep 2021 12:18:07 +0000 direct listing Gurley cites Jay Ritter's data showing direct listing companies wildly outperformed traditional IPO peers. https://minutesof.com/q/dca13555-75c7-4617-a304-00d7cd4fe2fb/ https://minutesof.com/q/dca13555-75c7-4617-a304-00d7cd4fe2fb/ “Jay Ritter put out some data at the end of August that you guys probably saw where he analyzed all the companies that have chosen the direct listing path and they've wildly outperformed their IPO peers,” — CNBC Television Tue, 28 Sep 2021 12:18:07 +0000 direct listing Gurley argues no one would choose traditional IPOs anymore because in 2020 the average IPO was underpriced by https://minutesof.com/q/ccf2dac6-22bd-40fd-8701-5b455822241d/ https://minutesof.com/q/ccf2dac6-22bd-40fd-8701-5b455822241d/ “I think to the extent that we can effectively integrate raising primary capital with the direct listing, no one would choose a traditional IPO process anymore because it's gotten perversely worse in 2020, the average IPO was underpriced by 50%.” — CNBC Television Wed, 12 May 2021 16:26:01 +0000 direct listing Gurley provides IPO underpricing data showing escalation from $2B in 2016 to $30B last year. https://minutesof.com/q/0e3bab41-bfa3-4e89-92a6-cf4d2d4bc106/ https://minutesof.com/q/0e3bab41-bfa3-4e89-92a6-cf4d2d4bc106/ “under first day under pricing in 2,016, 2,000,000,000. 17, 4,000,000,000. 18, 7,000,000,000. 19, 9,000,000,000. Last year, 30,000,000,000.” — Bloomberg Tech Sat, 06 Feb 2021 00:47:45 +0000 direct listing Gurley says direct listings with primary offerings are now clearly superior to both IPOs and SPACs. https://minutesof.com/q/a30c1c0c-debd-48d8-a19f-51eba7613f62/ https://minutesof.com/q/a30c1c0c-debd-48d8-a19f-51eba7613f62/ “Today's a super important day because I think it'll be very hard for anyone to argue whether it's a traditional IPO or a SPAC that that's gonna be better than a direct listing with a primary offering.” — CNBC Television Tue, 22 Dec 2020 21:56:04 +0000 direct listing Gurley describes direct listing as simply matching supply and demand unlike traditional IPOs. https://minutesof.com/q/b649059b-4589-4b5e-b7ef-eace447aca98/ https://minutesof.com/q/b649059b-4589-4b5e-b7ef-eace447aca98/ “We have a wonderful new age alternative called the direct listing that just matches supply and demand.” — Bloomberg Tech Fri, 16 Oct 2020 00:08:57 +0000 direct listing Gurley argues traditional IPOs lack market-based price discovery and equal access for all participants. https://minutesof.com/q/b682796e-62fb-459b-92fc-a0888a6779e1/ https://minutesof.com/q/b682796e-62fb-459b-92fc-a0888a6779e1/ “In the traditional IPO process, neither of those things are true. You don't have a market based price discovery, and you don't have open and equal access to all.” — CNBC Television Wed, 02 Oct 2019 17:35:22 +0000 direct listing Gurley illustrates direct listings allow any retail investor to participate at opening price, unlike IPOs. https://minutesof.com/q/feb9c1b1-ad2e-49d6-aec1-12412cc95c0a/ https://minutesof.com/q/feb9c1b1-ad2e-49d6-aec1-12412cc95c0a/ “If you put in a bid at $380.01 from a Robinhood account and they open at 38, you're filled. That is absolutely not true in the IPO process.” — CNBC Television Wed, 02 Oct 2019 17:35:22 +0000 direct listing Gurley explains Barry McCarthy discovered existing daily stock opening processes can enable direct listings. https://minutesof.com/q/85abc8a5-c40e-4a03-a476-d2dff8f01516/ https://minutesof.com/q/85abc8a5-c40e-4a03-a476-d2dff8f01516/ “What Barry McCarthy unlocked and and discovered was that the very same processes that you use at the NYSE and the Nasdaq to open stocks each and every day can actually do the match that that that do a direct listing opening.” — CNBC Television Wed, 02 Oct 2019 17:35:22 +0000 direct listing Gurley explains direct listings use existing daily stock-opening processes, removing steps rather than adding https://minutesof.com/q/26a53971-35fd-40d0-b943-7626e9f53c4b/ https://minutesof.com/q/26a53971-35fd-40d0-b943-7626e9f53c4b/ “What Barry McCarthy unlocked and and discovered was that the very same processes that you use at the NYSE and the Nasdaq to open stocks each and every day can actually do the match that that that do a direct listing opening. And so in the direct listing process, you're actually removing steps” — CNBC Television Wed, 02 Oct 2019 17:35:22 +0000 direct listing Gurley argues direct listings remove steps since IPOs use equivalent opening process the next day anyway. https://minutesof.com/q/60f954ef-334b-4a4d-8f62-31d8c40f2cf5/ https://minutesof.com/q/60f954ef-334b-4a4d-8f62-31d8c40f2cf5/ “And so in the direct listing process, you're actually removing steps because once you do an IPO, you actually do with the exact equivalent of direct listing opening the next morning.” — CNBC Television Wed, 02 Oct 2019 17:35:22 +0000 direct listing Gurley distinguishes direct listings from Dutch auctions by noting systems already exist in markets for daily https://minutesof.com/q/96c5a6ff-c053-45fb-9dd8-bd630e98522c/ https://minutesof.com/q/96c5a6ff-c053-45fb-9dd8-bd630e98522c/ “But what's really remarkable and very different from the Dutch auction, these systems are already inside of our financial markets.” — CNBC Television Wed, 02 Oct 2019 17:35:22 +0000 direct listing Gurley explains direct listings guarantee order fills for retail investors while traditional IPOs do not provi https://minutesof.com/q/103202f5-1230-4645-8906-44c2932f469c/ https://minutesof.com/q/103202f5-1230-4645-8906-44c2932f469c/ “If you are in a direct listing, any direct listing, and you are at a Schwab account, a Robinhood account, I don't care what, and you put in an order that's a penny higher than the closing price, you get filled. That is not true in a traditional IPO.” — CNBC Television Tue, 10 Sep 2019 17:45:20 +0000 direct listing Gurley contrasts direct listings where any retail investor gets filled versus traditional IPOs where retail ge https://minutesof.com/q/1eea5bb8-6836-422d-838d-1c9948020934/ https://minutesof.com/q/1eea5bb8-6836-422d-838d-1c9948020934/ “That is not true in a traditional IPO. In fact, retail's often held the 5%,” — CNBC Television Tue, 10 Sep 2019 17:45:20 +0000 direct listing