Pinterest, the visual social media platform, has priced shares in its IPO at $19 on Wednesday.
This was above the range it had earlier indicated, but still 12 per cent below the price it achieved in a private share sale two years ago.
The offering values Pinterest at around $12.6 billion, including options and restricted stock units issued to its employees.
Ben Silberman, co-founder and chief executive officer, will be left with a stake worth $981m, while early venture capital investor Bessemer, with 13 per cent, will be the largest single investor with nearly $1.2bn.
Among other big holders, venture capitalists FirstMark and Andreessen Horowitz, as well as co-founder Paul Sciarra, will each have stakes worth more than $800m.
The so-called “down round” IPO marks a disappointment for late-stage investors, who bid up Pinterest’s shares in 2017 amidst surging interest in fast-growing private tech companies.
The San Francisco-based social media site has been slower to make money from its network than investors had hoped, causing a slip that echoes recent IPOs from tech companies including Box, Square and BlueApron.