Business Week finds it odd that Vonage, the Internet telephony-only company that has yet to make a dime, is poised to make more money from its debut on the stock market today than MasterCard, which
actually made $319 million last year. A poll from IPOHome.com, a site that watches public stock offerings, shows that investors think Vonage's IPO is a hotter prospect than MasterCard--or any other
IPO currently being priced, for that matter. Whereas the other companies listed on the poll actually make money, Vonage lost $261.3 million last year, despite a subscriber base of over 1 million.
Meanwhile, Skype, one of its VoIP rivals, has plans to offer free calling to U.S. and Canadian landlines, as well as new services for cell phones. This should render Vonage's unlimited $25 a month
calling plan obsolete, shouldn't it? Yet last night the company raised $531 million, selling 31.3 million shares for $17 a share, making it the biggest Internet IPO since Google two years ago.
Read the whole story at Business Week »
