directed share program

[Ingrid38]

does anyone have any info if the airbnb ipo is including a directed share program for hosts?

[Michelle53]

@Rey2163  The trade needs to settle first.  So no, you can't sell before they are paid for. 

[Revathi2]

Not planning on selling .... question though -  was allocated 200 shares similar to others, went ahead & completed steps yesterday itself, within minutes of receiving the allocation email. Also took care of the ACH last night & I see that the funds came thru (from my Wellsfargo to Morgan Stanley) when I logged in now. 

     But nothing shows yet under ‘My top holdings’ on Morgan Stanley. It still says ‘you have no holdings’. Of course it’s a new account, so there will be only Airbnb. Do you guys see Airbnb on your holdings? 

[Kelly568]

Yes I got a message that my shares were paid for and all completed but the site is not up to date yet so I'm not worried....I trade on TD Ameritrade and I'll be moving it because MS does not seem very user friendly

[Scott1243]

From what I read, doesn't look like you can transfer DSP shares from one brokerage to another.  You would have to sell the shares at MS, then re-buy at TDAmeritrade.  That wouldn't be ideal since you would pay the tax on the gains (short-term, at that).  As bad as the MS interface is, may be best to stick it out with them.

[Scott1243]

Nope.  I did talk to a couple reps at MS, was told as long as you have a confirmation you should "all good" and that it may take until end of business Monday to actually show up in the account.  It didn't give me the bets of feelings, since when I completed the process of buying on evening of 12/9, I did not get a confirmation email, but just a confirmation on the webpage (Step 10 in the process that did to create our tax ID, disclosures, etc.).  I did also have an email this morning that started like this, which gives me some additional confidence (although it didn't reference my exact shares and cost):

Thank you for participating in Airbnb’s Directed Share Program.

Should you have any account maintenance questions, or if you would like to sell shares, please contact your existing Financial Advisor.

Did you get that? If so, according to the MS contact I had today you should be all set.  He also indicated that we MIGHT get an additional email with further info Friday.  Also, they are "swamped" with managing through the DSP right now (his words).

Curious if anyone else had same, or different, experience.  Cheers!

[Scott1243]

Update...as of 4:30 am EST on 12/11, transaction completed in MS account and shows my holdings. Cash that was in account has been reduced accordingly. 

[Michael3573]

Crap! I've been checking my email diligently since filling out the directed share form awhile back and just read that the IPO has already hit! Guess I was left out. 😞

[Ryan2169]

If we didn't meet the "tenure" status, @Airbnb should have made that clear in an email, with maybe some details on how others met the criteria and how we did not?

Just a vague email is not sufficient. In the email that was sent out earlier this week, it was not clear that I was a host that did not meet their tenure requirement. Such a shady way to communicate to the hosts that they left out of the program.... It's like being the red headed step child that gets no attention. 

[Ryan2169]

I am a super host... Was really excited about this opportunity. Kept an eye out constantly. Even saw the email earlier this week from Airbnb. But I never (not in trash, spam, or inbox) received an email from Morgan Stanley..... What's the deal with that? @Airbnb wtf!?!? I would have bought all 200 that were made available to others, at any price. 

@Airbnb What is your plan to address Hosts like myself? That you essentially lied to or gave hope to and never followed up with? I am an avid user (since 2011) and host (since 2017 - active superhost status).

Please provide answers.

[Shawn509]

Same here... and then I just got an email from Airbnb thanks me for being a loyal host and celebrating the day.  Way to rub it in more!!! Now that all you executives are rich AF off our backs.  Super host for years and nothing for me!!! I hope some layer steps up for a class action 

[Ronli0]

I feel the same way, almost set up in fact. Then getting an email about the "host endowment" which in no way will help me, my properties, or my business as if that's a consolation prize is almost like a slap in the face. I was ready to purchase all 200 chairs and obviously they knew exactly what the criteria was when they sent out the initial email so why even play with people's heart strings.

[Kelly568]

There are 650,000 US hosts..... 50 mill shares..... I think less than 100K hosts got a qualifying email..look forward to buying in when the market drops!  and it will at some point...

[Scott1243]

It appears that the first cutoff was made by "tenure", based on the date of your first rental.  What was yours?  We could probably figure out roughly where the cut line was if enough people respond.  My first rental stay was Jan 2016.

After the "tenure" cut, the program was available on "first-come, first serve" basis.  I got my email stating this at 2:32 PM EST on 12/1 and had my account setup by 4:40 PM the same day.  I made the cut with these numbers.

It was pretty clear in the 12/1 email of the structure of the offering, which also included the buy window....said it would be on 12/9 after 6:00 PM EST, with buy needing to be completed before 11:59 PM EST.  For the record, they did get this part wrong....should have been CST.  I got my email at 7:05 PM EST on 12/9 for purchase.

Here's the copy of the 12/1 email that referenced all pertinent info of the summary above:

The program is administered on a first come, first served basis. Once the program reaches capacity, the application process will close and no additional applications will be accepted.

Space permitting, applications must be submitted via Morgan Stanley’s secure program website by December 07, 2020, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Please note there will be a minimum purchase amount expected to be at least $300 in addition to a maximum purchase amount. Hosts may be invited to participate based on tenure, as determined by the first year the Host hosted on Airbnb.

Important Dates:

• Application Deadline: December 07, 2020, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time
• Expected Pricing Date: December 09, 2020 after 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time
• Expected Confirmation Deadline: December 09, 2020, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time

[Chris80]

I qualified, created a Morgan Stanley account and received pricing details yesterday at 5:04pm (after close of business) and had until 10pm to purchase shares. I missed this five hour window since I wasn't waiting by my email. There was never any indication that this would have to be completed after business hours on the night before the IPO. I'm extremely disappointed in this process and was looking forward to owning a piece of the company that I've worked really hard to support. 

[Kelly568]

Well, all the info was in an email a few days before that told us to look out at a specific time period...if you completed the steps required then you'd know you had to check your email at a certain time or miss out....on the up side....the market could drop 30% or more anytime then you can buy in...