As for Dylan Field, the co-founder and CEO of Figma, he stands to make out pretty well too. The company’s initial public offering (IPO) is expected any day now. The IPO will allow him to cash out at least $62 million at the midrange of the share price. Figma expects to sell about 12.5 million shares through the IPO. This action is the biggest step it’s taken so far on its path to become a publicly-traded company.
Field will continue to hold significant control after the IPO, maintaining 74% of the voting rights. His supervoting rights give him the leverage to do so. With 15 votes per share for the Class B stock he controls, he has a lot of power. Importantly, he has the right to vote the Class B shares owned by his co-founder Evan Wallace. This authority solidifies his power over the company.
With an $11 billion-plus IPO, existing shareholders once again look likely to cash in. Their corporate cousins will have an opportunity to monetize close to 24.7 million shares as a result of this public offering. The IPO has an over-allotment provision to allow underwriters to sell an additional 5.5 million shares to shareholders. This third alternative goes into effect only if the offering is a success. It’s worth emphasizing again that Figma won’t benefit from the capital raised by shares sold by its eventual shareholders.
With interest this high, market analysts anticipate no shortage of demand for Figma’s shares. They estimate that, with the over-allotment, each of the major shareholders stands to cash out from 1.7 million shares up to 3.3 million shares. What fuels this potential demand is the increasing interest in Figma’s innovative design collaboration tools. Their known market penetration only adds to the hype.
