Timeline for What was the first software company to go public?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
15 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 17, 2022 at 1:20 | answer | added | Rick Smith | timeline score: 17 | |
| May 16, 2022 at 23:27 | history | became hot network question | |||
| May 16, 2022 at 16:54 | comment | added | Brian H | @JimNelson I think you are right to ccount video game cartridges as the same thing as "software units." | |
| May 16, 2022 at 16:46 | history | edited | Brian H | CC BY-SA 4.0 | added 8 characters in body |
| May 16, 2022 at 16:28 | comment | added | Jim Nelson | Going a different direction, video game company Activision went public in June 1983. Technically they sold hardware, but I view game cartridges as selling read-only media, not "hardware." | |
| May 16, 2022 at 16:26 | comment | added | Brian | Another big early name is Borland (Turbo Pascal) which started offering shares to the public on the London Unlisted Securities Market in 1986. | |
| May 16, 2022 at 16:11 | comment | added | Jim Nelson | Lotus Development went public in October 1983, and Ashton-Tate did the same in November. | |
| May 16, 2022 at 16:09 | answer | added | Jon Custer | timeline score: 10 | |
| May 16, 2022 at 16:02 | history | edited | Brian H | CC BY-SA 4.0 | added 60 characters in body |
| May 16, 2022 at 15:55 | history | edited | Brian H | edited tags | |
| May 16, 2022 at 15:51 | comment | added | Brian | One data point would be WordStar developer MicroPro International which IPO'd in 1984. | |
| May 16, 2022 at 15:49 | history | edited | Brian H | CC BY-SA 4.0 | added 12 characters in body |
| May 16, 2022 at 15:48 | comment | added | Brian H | @JonCuster Good point. EDS in 1968 appears to me to have been an outsource provider for IT services, which I think is a significantly different business. I'd exclude companies that weren't known for actually selling software at the time of the IPO. | |
| May 16, 2022 at 15:37 | comment | added | Jon Custer | Adobe was 1986 as well. Getting listed on the NYSE or NASDAQ does not imply an IPO necessarily. EDS had an IPO in 1968, but would you call EDS a software company early on? | |
| May 16, 2022 at 15:24 | history | asked | Brian H | CC BY-SA 4.0 |