Delisted from Nasdaq (2023) after the value of its public shares fell below listing minimums
The rise & fall
8 moments Β· 2016β2023
The key moments.
2016
π±
2016
Founded β and it pays you to read
The aggregator hands out cash and points for reading and sharing light news and short videos; growth explodes.
TechCrunch
Sep 2018
π
Sep 2018
The peak: Nasdaq IPO doubles on day one$2.1B
Lists at about $2.1B barely two years after launch β the fastest a Chinese startup had ever gone from founding to a US IPO β and more than doubles in its first session.
Caixin
2019
2019
A short seller cries fraud
Fraud allegations land while the pay-to-read economics wobble; the stock never sees its debut highs again.
Caixin
2019
π
2019
Slips out of the club
The IPO pop unwinds within a year as subsidies burn cash faster than users can be kept.
Caixin
2019β22
2019β22
Subsidies burn, regulators tighten
Paying users to read is expensive; persistent losses meet China's hardening content rules and gut the model.
Caixin
Sep 2022
Sep 2022
Nasdaq warns: too small to stay listed
The value of its publicly held shares falls below the exchange's minimums.
SEC filing
2023
πͺ¦
2023
Delisted β equity all but wiped out
Struck from the Nasdaq in 2023. About $455M raised; roughly 100% of the peak value gone.
SEC filing
$2.1Bof peak value erased Β· 3 years
How it happened
Qutoutiao (袣倴ζ‘) was a Tencent-backed Chinese mobile content aggregator that rewarded users with cash and points for reading and sharing light news and short videos, growing so fast it became the quickest Chinese company to go from launch to a US IPO.
It listed on Nasdaq in September 2018 at about $2.1B and more than doubled on its first day, but short-seller fraud allegations in 2019, heavy user-acquisition subsidies, persistent losses and a tightening content-regulation environment gutted the stock. After its publicly held share value fell below Nasdaq minimums in 2022, the company was delisted in 2023, its equity all but wiped out.
Source: Caixin / GlobeNewswire / SEC 6-K (Tencent-backed mobile news aggregator; Sept 2018 Nasdaq IPO at ~$2.1B, more than doubled on day one; short-seller fraud claims in 2019; Nasdaq MVPHS deficiency Sept 2022; delisted 2023)
