Home / Business and Economy / Hedge Fund Titan Warns: "IPO Market Completely Broken"
Hedge Fund Titan Warns: "IPO Market Completely Broken"
14 Nov
Summary
- Coatue Management's Philippe Laffont says IPO market is "beyond repair"
- Fewer IPOs today compared to 20-30 years ago
- Retail investors increasingly shut out of high-growth companies before IPO
On November 13, 2025, Philippe Laffont, the founder and portfolio manager of Coatue Management, delivered a stark warning about the state of the U.S. IPO market. Speaking at the CNBC Delivering Alpha conference, Laffont argued that the ecosystem for taking companies public has deteriorated significantly, and the market today bears little resemblance to the vibrant IPO pipeline of prior decades.
Laffont stated that the IPO market is "completely broken... beyond repair." He noted that there are "very few IPOs... almost none" today, compared to 20 or 30 years ago when there were "so many more." This trend, he said, could be problematic for everyday investors, who increasingly find themselves shut out of high-growth companies until their valuations are already steep.
"I think it's not a great trend because at the end of the day, it's just easier for retail investors to be involved in IPOs, and then onwards, than everything before the IPO," Laffont said. He manages roughly $70 billion in assets through Coatue Management, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
