When Warren Buffett invests in his first IPO since 1956 and makes a $1 billion paper profit on the first day of trade, you know something fascinating is happening on global capital markets.
Buffett’s gain on his stake in US tech firm Snowflake, which saw its shares double when it listed on Wednesday night, is emblematic of Wall Street’s IPO boom, where the number of firms that have listed so far in 2020 (223, raising $US88 billion) has already zoomed past 2019’s floats (211, raising $US62.5 billion).