Pioneering Rapper Blasts Citi, Deutsche for Shelved Startup IPO

  • M17 defers U.S. listing, opts for private funding round
  • Live-streaming platform cites unspecified ‘settlement issues’

The New York Stock Exchange.

Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

Jeffrey Huang, the veteran rapper who pioneered Taiwan’s hip-hop scene, publicly lashed out at two investment banks after his tech startup shelved its U.S. initial public offering.

M17 Entertainment Ltd., the live-streaming platform that Huang co-founded, said in a statement dated Wednesday it’s deferring its listing due to unspecified “settlement issues” with some investors. In a post on his verified Facebook page, Huang used a four-letter expletive to express his displeasure with Citigroup Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG, the lead underwriters of the sale.