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Bending Spoons IPO

Business · Heat 1.2 / 10 · 4 shows · 14m airtime

Bending Spoons listed on NASDAQ on July 15, 2026, at a valuation above $18 billion, rising 40% on its first day. Reporting since has traced the company to a $10,000 keyboard-app acquisition in 2014, with acquired businesses supplying at least 90% of revenue since; it has never sold a material business and its core team is roughly 800 people. Cost efficiencies account for about 50% of value creation and org optimization 30-35%, with headcount cuts reaching 80%+ in some deals. Berkshire disclosed an additional $330 million on October 14, taking its stake to 4 percent. The discussion now turns on leverage: almost $5 billion in long-term debt, with Q2 interest expense of $109 million at about 29% of adjusted operating…

How 4 podcasts covered it

  1. Prof G Markets, 2026-10-04 (1:00 to 2:13)
    Previews the NASDAQ listing and buy-and-overhaul model
    Introduces the Founder Series conversation with Bending Spoons CEO Luca Ferrari, framing the company's buy-and-overhaul model and its summer NASDAQ listing above $18 billion with a 40% first-day pop.
    New angle: Bending Spoons went public on NASDAQ above an $18 billion valuation, jumping 40% on day one.
  2. Prof G Markets, 2026-10-04 (6:12 to 10:26)
    Corrects the app-studio framing with deal history
    Luca Ferrari corrects the app-studio framing: Bending Spoons has always been an acquirer, buying its first app in 2014 for $10,000 and taking at least 90% of revenue from acquired businesses every year since.
    New angle: The first acquisition was a $10,000 keyboard app in 2014; acquired businesses have supplied at least 90% of revenue since.
  3. Closing Bell, 2026-10-14 (18:53 to 20:09)
    Reports Berkshire's added $330 million stake
    Reports Berkshire's follow-on: an additional $330 million disclosed, taking its stake to 4 percent, after the $600 million it put in at the July listing. Notes the WSJ accounting and amortization questions and the short position Berkshire is now leaning against.
    New angle: Berkshire disclosed an additional $330 million in Bending Spoons, taking its stake to 4 percent.
  4. Squawk Pod, 2026-10-15 (12:11 to 14:06)
    Recaps the filing and the 41 percent move
    Recaps the Berkshire filing and the 41 percent move, then stays inside the familiar frame: an Italian conglomerate that buys and overhauls software, more high-tech private equity than Berkshire. The Luca Ferrari history is color, not a new fact.
  5. The Compound and Friends, 2026-10-20 (30:28 to 36:07)
    Adds the leverage math to the IPO story
    Walks through the Bending Spoons model - buying declining apps, cutting staff, running them with AI - and lays out the bear case: a hold-rated stock, 3% organic growth in Q2, and nearly $5 billion of debt with interest expense tripled. Adds the first hard financials and the leverage math to a story previously told through its IPO pop and…
    New angle: Bending Spoons carries almost $5 billion in long-term debt; Q2 interest expense of $109 million is about 29% of adjusted operating income.
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