Which dot-com company's 1998 IPO had a 606% first-day gain?

The dot-com company whose 1998 IPO had a 606% first-day gain was theGlobe.com. Its shares debuted on November 13, 1998, during the height of the internet-stock boom.

The company offered shares at $9 each. Trading opened at $87, briefly reached $97, and ended at $63.50. That closing price represented a 606% increase over the offering price, setting an IPO first-day record at the time. The company sold 3.1 million shares and raised $27.9 million.

Theglobe.com began as an online community where users could create personal webpages and interact with others. Its spectacular debut made founders Stephan Paternot and Todd Krizelman symbols of the dot-com era, but the excitement did not last. As investors lost confidence in unprofitable internet businesses, the stock collapsed from its peak to less than 10 cents by 2001.

A common mix-up is confusing the company’s opening price with its closing price. The 606% figure refers to the gain from the $9 IPO price to the $63.50 first-day close, not the jump to $87 at the opening.