Playboy: Google Guys
A not-so-revealing interview in a Playboy issue to be released today is getting the founders of Google into warm water, as the Wall Street Journal reports that the Securities and Exchange Commission is reviewing whether the publication constitutes a violation of its quiet period rules. Bids for Google stock - placed in its novel Dutch auction method of running an initial offering - may be placed as early as this morning. Securities lawyers tell various press that Google's IPO would likely be delayed only if the interview contained material intended to tout the offering. Excerpts of the interview appear to be fairly innocuous.
[Google disclosed just minutes before bidding opened this morning that the interview may have violated SEC rules on the quite period. It then went ahead with the opening of bids.]
The New York Times reports that a former SEC staffer now at D.C. law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher said that the Commission would look into the article, but take action (for instance, delaying the offering or even fining Google) only if it appeared to the SEC that Google was ginning up interest in the stock.
CNET's report takes on a much more dire tone, implying various forms of doom on over Google's IPO because of the interview and several other factors - most notably Google's high price expectations and the fact that many Internet IPOs on the market are being pulled back in the face of investor skepticism.
Key in deciding whether or not the published interview constitutes a quiet period violation, according to securities attorneys, is the perceived intent of the publicity. Several prominent IPOs were delayed when company chiefs went public touting their companies. In this, Google co-founders may find relief in their natural humility. Probably the most chest beating of the interview that has anything to do with finances or the offering is an answer to whether or not they'd consider selling out: "No. We think we're an important company, and we're dedicated to doing this over the long term. We like being independent."
The interview was conducted a week before Google filed for its IPO.
