LinkedIn closed at $94.25 on its first day of trading in 2011.
LinkedIn began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on May 19, 2011, under the ticker symbol LNKD. Its initial public offering price was $45 per share, but strong demand sent the stock sharply higher once trading began.
The shares rose as much as about 171% during the session and finished at $94.25. That closing price was more than double the IPO price, making LinkedIn’s debut one of the most closely watched technology offerings of the period and helping revive enthusiasm for internet-company IPOs.
The $196 figure is a common distraction: Microsoft later offered $196 per LinkedIn share when announcing its 2016 acquisition. The $45 figure was LinkedIn’s IPO price, not its first-day close, while $108.38 was not the closing price for that debut session.