A new global division of labour in venture capital flows: Coupang’s IPO success at the New York Stock Exchange

ABSTRACT

Coupang, which is an international spinoff of Softbank Vision Fund, chronicled a gargantuan IPO success at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 2021. Coupang is similar in many respects to Softbank’s earlier accomplishment with Alibaba’s IPO at the NYSE. By focusing on the success factors of the IPO at the NYSE and Coupang’s domestic business in South Korea, we advocate four propositions on the nature of global venture capital firms that try to link actual e-commerce markets in East Asia with the global centers of IPOs in the US. This study also deals with corporate governance in the new e-commerce sector, political risks and labor union militancy in a host country, predictors and contextual conditions of IPOs at the NYSE and the dual class system of shares and financial structures in a host country.

KEYWORDS:

• Coupang
• Alibaba
• Softbank
• IPO
• corproate governance
• dual class system
• venture capital
• variant interest entity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Research Fund of 2022.

Notes on contributors

Ingyu Oh

Ingyu Oh is Professor of Organizational Studies at Kansai Gaidai University, Osaka, Japan. Before coming to Japan in 2018, he taught at Korea University, Bristol Business School, Middle East Technical University, UC Berkeley, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, the University of Waikato and the University of Oregon. His main teaching and research interests include organizational studies, innovation, international business, business history and cultural studies. He has published numerous books, monographs and journal articles over the last 25+ years. He is Associate Editor of Asia Pacific Business Review.

Yunsung Koh

Yunsung Koh is Professor in the College of Business, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul, Korea. His research topics include corporate governance, R&D investment, dividends and tax avoidance. His research has appeared in journals such as Asian Business & Management, Asian Review of Accounting, and Asia Pacific Business Review.

Yun Kyung Kim

Yun Kyung Kim is Assistant Professor in the School of Northeast Asian Studies, Incheon National University, Incheon, Korea. She received her PhD in Economics at Columbia University. Her main research topics include corporate governance, organization structure and regulations.