SEC Shouldn’t Open Up Unicorn Hunting to Mom and Pop
The private market’s ability to limit hype and investment is a feature, not a bug.
There’s a reason Mom and Pop can’t invest in Uber.
Photographer: Brent Lewin/BloombergSecurities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton says he’s looking at ways to open up the private market to mom-and-pop investors, allowing them the chance to get in on fast-growing companies like Uber Technologies Inc. and Airbnb Inc. Instead, he should be looking for a quicker way for companies to move from private to public markets, and back.
Earlier this week, Clayton, speaking at a conference for entrepreneurs in Nashville, outlined a proposal to make it easier for less-than-wealthy individuals to invest in private companies. Right now those investments are restricted to high-net-worth individuals. Clayton said the SEC will take a few months to deliver a “lengthy” paper on the matter, but not long after that the games would begin. “I think you could move pretty quickly on this kind of thing,” Clayton told the Wall Street Journal.