A Way to Invest in Craigslist

Craigslist is the largest online classified ad company in the world, with over 5 billion page views per month. It was founded in 1995 by Craig Newmark in San Francisco, as a local service to the community providing jobs, housing, and personal ads.

It now has sections for 450 cities worldwide. It has over 10 million new ads every month, and is considered one of the top ten web sites in the United States and one of the top job sites in the world.

Originally, there was no charge for the ads. Now they charge for paid job ads, and in New York City, paid broker apartment listings. Newmark still refuses to run banner ads and has no interest in maximizing revenues.

In spite of the fact that Craigslist is private, there is a way to invest in the company. Many investors are not aware that in 2004, eBay Inc. (EBAY) which trades on NASDAQ, bought a 25% interest in Craigslist, ensuring a distribution of shares or share sales proceeds to eBay shareholders in the event Craigslist ever goes public.

Comments

[oldcurmudgeon2:]

Don't hold your breath!

2007 Mar 28 11:17 AM

[Stockerblog:]

I know. But stranger things have happened. I remember when Blackboard (BBBB) said that they didn't need to go public, they had no plans to go public and they would never go public. Now they are public.

2007 Mar 30 02:38 PM