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Tech IRL: A popping tech bubble?

Seth Kelley Jan 30, 2015
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Tech IRL: A popping tech bubble?

Seth Kelley Jan 30, 2015
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Are we in a bubble, or are we not in a bubble? That is the question — at least if we’re talking tech stocks. Recently, tech startups are getting valuations of epic proportions, which could cause individual investors to question if his or her 401k and pension funds are safe.

Katie Benner, a tech columnist with Bloomberg View, says that if you’re one of those individual investors, you probably shouldn’t worry.

“Most of it is not happening in the public stock markets. It’s happening in the private company markets,” she says.

Companies that are experiencing an influx of money from investors, like Airbnb, Uber and Square, aren’t publicly traded.

Here’s partial list of recent startup valuations, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal:

  • Xiaomi: $46 billion
  • Uber: $41.2 billion
  • Snapchat: $10 billion
  • Airbnb: $10 billion
  • Dropbox: $10 billion
  • Square: $6 billion
  • Pinterest: $5 billion
  • Spotify: $4 billion

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