[sk_0919]

>> Groupon's business-professor cofounder, Eric Lefkofsky, has dumped about $382 million of his shares in the prior private financings.

It's important to know what percentage of his total shares he dumped to form an opinion on this.

[gojomo]

Fair enough. Per AllthingsD [1], Andrew Mason has sold about 4 million shares, for $27 million. Per the latest S-1 [2], it appears Mason retains about 23.5 million shares, so he's sold about 15% of his earlier stake.

Eric Lefkofksy has sold (through related entities jointly owned with his wife) about 32 million shares, for $382 million. From the latest S-1, it appears he and his LLCs retain about 129 million shares, so he's sold about 20% of his earlier holdings.

Interestingly, Groupon also paid out about $27 million in dividends in 2009.

Mason diversifying away from Groupon makes good sense, without sending much of a negative signal, as his net worth was probably 99%+ in Groupon before the 2009 dividend and then later stock sales. Lefkofsky was already very wealthy (and thus presumably diversified) from other ventures, so his sales are a stronger signal that he thinks other investments are more promising.

[1] http://allthingsd.com/20110602/where-did-groupons-billion-do...

[2] http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1490281/0001047469110...

[mbesto]

Ok, so I'm trying to wrap my head around he ultimately gets screwed on this... Are the people/entities who bought $382mil worth of shares potentially screwed now that they see the real valuation? Is there any potential for fraud in this case?

[itswindy]

He probably sold to (supposedly) sophisticated investors that thought they'd scam retail investors later on.

[VladRussian]

>It's important to know what percentage of his total shares he dumped to form an opinion on this.

not in such a case. 382M out of close to 1B round - it is obvious that he dumped _all_ what he could dump. The rest of his holding doesn't matter - it is just paper.

[jonnathanson]

Agreed. It's certainly not unheard of, or even necessarily unsavory, for founders and early-stage investors to take some profit off the table in later financing rounds. Since Groupon received HUGE financing prior to IPO, taking $382mm out might not have amounted to a giant percentage. Then again, it may have. But the percentage is indeed the more interesting figure.

[damoncali]

I'm more interested in how many shares the founders wanted to sell.