Emailed on August 14, 2020 in The Friday Forward

Airbnb is reportedly planning to file confidentially its paperwork to go public later this month, according to the WSJ.

• CEO Brian Chesky has told just about every news outlet in recent weeks that going public this year is again an option (and, as Axios reported, internal preparations resumed recently).

• Plus, some employee stock grants expire later this year, so Airbnb is truly in a crunch.

• The big question remains: IPO or something else? A direct listing has been a rumored path for Airbnb (and direct listing go-to firms Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are indeed in charge).