Covid-Level Fear Grips Silicon Valley After Tariff Turmoil Delays IPOs
Tech’s venture capital class had been banking on a 2025 comeback for public listings.
Tech’s venture capitalists were hoping this year would provide some relief from a yearslong slump.
Photographer: Michael Nagle/BloombergThis was supposed to be the year that Silicon Valley’s yearslong backlog of billion-dollar startups were finally able to go public, delivering riches to venture capitalists. Instead, President Donald Trump’s promises of sweeping tariffs and the havoc in global markets have thrown those plans into limbo, threatening to plunge the VC and startup industry into crisis.
Most major public listings planned for this year are on ice, with StubHub Holdings Inc., payments firm Klarna Group Plc and trading platform eToro Group Ltd. all pausing their preparations. Some of these businesses, like Klarna, intend to list as soon as the market stabilizes. But others aiming to go public this year, particularly those directly impacted by the tariffs, may struggle to reach that goal altogether.