First trading day becomes one big Twitterverse party for #TwitterIPO

Singapore

TWITTER'S first trading session on Thursday very fittingly unfolded on itself, as the Twitterverse watched a small circle of men become almost twice as rich as they had been on Wednesday.

The micro-blogging site opened at US$45.10 on the New York Stock Exchange, up 73 per cent from its initial public offering (IPO) price of US$26 as investors clambered over themselves to get into the stock.

By the end of the day, the stock closed at US$44.90 with a market capitalisation of almost US$25 billion. It was larger than Kellogg Company or The Hershey Company. At the same time, its co-founders were able to put an official price tag on their corporeal selves.

Less than 10 frenzied hours of trading later, co-founder Evan Williams, with the lion's share of 12 per cent, became US$1.1 billion richer. The other co-founder, Jack Dorsey, walked around feeling US$443 million taller, and Twitter CEO Dick Costolo had to find room for anot…