GM’s IPO: The Scorecard

Yahoo Finance ^ | 11-18-2010 | Daniel Gross

[bigbob]

Last week we noted that the Chevrolet Volt, GM's entry in the electric car sweepstakes, is an unrevolutionary revolutionary vehicle. The same might be said of GM's initial public offering — it's a big deal, but it doesn't change some fundamental aspects about the car industry, the company, and the bailouts.

Let's consider the impact on several stakeholders:

U.S. Taxpayers: The government put $49.5 billion into GM in 2008 and 2009. Before the IPO, GM had paid back (or committed to pay back) $9.5 billion. The government sold about 412 million shares in the offering worth $13.6 billion, bringing the total returned to $23.1 billion. Taxpayers still own — or are stuck with — about 500 million shares of GM, worth about $17 billion at current prices.

So the IPO has brought cash into Treasury's coffers and establishes a mechanism for reducing the remaining stake over time. But for the taxpayers to be made whole, GM's stock will have to rise significantly over the next few years.

[bigbob]

Here is a fair and balanced summary of the GM IPO and where taxpayers stand. This is the start, not the end, of cleaning up the mess Obama made.

[trumandogz]

“The government put $49.5 billion into GM in 2008 and 2009.”

The TARP Bailout of the banks, Wall Street and the auto companies was a disaster and America became a full-fledged Socialist State.

[Lazlo in PA]