Airbnb plans its initial public offering for 2019, with cash bonus for employees

Airbnb is building a larger profile as a travel services powerhouse, and will reportedly go public by 30 June 2019. It aims to list before late 2020. This will help the company get ahead of any employee equity grants from expiring. That’s about a year from now. Airbnb now has 4,000 employees, is currently a profitable business and according to Techcrunch, will also be paying cash bonuses to staff in 2018 and 2019, for the first time in years. [caption id=“attachment_4254175” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] A 3D printed people’s models displayed in front of Airbnb logo. Image: Reuters[/caption] Additionally, it will also give more choices for compensation in future. The compensation announcements that were first reported by The Information, show how Airbnb is trying to keep people happy in a competitive market for new talents. Besides employee compensation, the company is also getting other things in order. Airbnb is still searching for a new chief marketing officer and a new chief financial officer. When we talk of initial public offerings, most companies especially startups are open about these plans, but this hasn’t been the case with Airbnb. In fact, according to the report, Airbnb’s executives and investors have been at odds over whether it should ever be going public at all. Airbnb is on track to make between $3.5 billion to $4 billion in revenues this year from its business connecting travellers with private homes and other related services.