By
Steve Muchoki
September 20th, 2023
Elliott Management is the biggest investor in Pinterest. The Vanguard Group has an 8.7% stake in the company.
Image sharing and social media service provider Pinterest Inc (NYSE: PINS) advanced 19% on news that activist investor Elliott Management has a 9% stake in the company. With his investment, Elliott reportedly has the biggest company in Pinterest. People familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal that The investor has been in talk with the company over the past weeks. The sources added that the over 9% stake Elliott has in interest is partly in common stock. The Management invested in the company, with Pinterest declining more than 74% over the past year.
The company has seen lesser active daily users since the ease of lockdowns, and people have resumed their daily activities. Between November 30, 2021, and December 31, 2021, Pinterest’s global audience dropped from 226.9 million to 218.1 million. At the pandemic’s peak and people were forced to stay home, Pinterest got many’s attention, which fueled its revenue. PINS stock is also down 51.69% since January began and dropped nearly 21% in the last three months.
Pinterest Advances After Elliott Management’s Stake
At press time, Pinterest stock is trading up 15.32% to $20.25 in after-hours trading on news that Elliott has a 9% stake in the company. However, the company has been struggling with a 13.24% loss in the last five days. This came in addition to its 3.41% fall over the past month.
While Elliott Management told Pinterest it is its biggest investor, Refinitiv data shows that The Vanguard Group has an 8.7% stake in the company. Although there are no details on the discussion between Elliott and the image-sharing service provider, former CEO Ben Silbermann could limit the investor’s move. Silbermann, who is also the co-founder of the company, has about a 37% voting stake.
Late last month, Pinterest announced that Silbermann would be stepping down from his role as the CEO Silberman exited his long-term position, which he occupied for almost 13 years. As he stepped down, the former CEO occupied a newly created position- Executive Chairman. The changes took effect on June 29, with online commerce expert Bill Ready becoming the new CEO. Ready, who was President of Commerce, Payments & Next Billion Users at Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL), also became a Pinterest board member. The new CEO has also filled two roles in fintech firm PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL), which reportedly made a takeover move on Pinterest.
Last October, there was news that PayPal approached Pinterest to take over the company. Reports noted that the financial technology company made a $70 per share offer to Pinterest. However, PayPal later revealed that it was not pursuing a deal with the image-sharing service provider.