The Costs of Selling Yourself as an IPO

By Phin Upham

According to a story in Wired, Mike Merrill has taken the idea of investing in yourself very personally. He’s turned himself into an IPO and sold shares of his future earnings off to the general public. While he’s kept most of the shares for himself, he’s made himself a non-voting shareholder and let the other shareholders vote on many of the key decisions in his life.

This has led to him leaving one girlfriend and finding romance with another person who was approved by his Romance Advisory Committee. It’s also meant abiding by his shareholders’ decisions for him to stop eating meat, switch political parties and change his sleep habits. While unorthodox, it’s a twist on athletes and musicians (such as David Bowie) who have offered shares of their future earnings to investors.

Find out more at: http://www.wired.com/business/2013/03/ipo-man/all/

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About the Author: Phin Uphamis an investor at a family office/ hedgefund, where he focuses on special situation illiquid investing. Before this position, Phin Upham was working at Morgan Stanley in the Media & Technology group. You may contact Phin on his Phin Upham website or Twitter page.