Executive Ownership and Control in Newly Public Firms: The Role of Venture Capitalists

39 Pages Posted: 6 Jun 1999 Last revised: 13 Jan 2009

See all articles by Malcolm P. Baker

Malcolm P. Baker

Harvard Business School; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Paul A. Gompers

Harvard Business School - Finance Unit; Harvard University - Entrepreneurial Management Unit; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

Date Written: November 1999

Abstract

We study the implications of CEO equity ownership for incentives and control in a sample of 1,011 newly public firms. Before an initial public offering, equity investments by venture capitalists reduce CEO ownership by about half, from an average of 35 percent to 19 percent. Venture capitalists narrow this difference by granting options, reducing secondary sales, and lowering the dilution by primary shares, but a gap in post-IPO CEO equity ownership remains. The effect of this lower ownership on incentives depends upon the measure employed - the dollar sensitivity of CEO pay to firm value is lower in venture firms, but the elasticity is about the same. In addition, we present evidence that lower ownership, combined with concentrated outside holdings, leads to a reduction in the agency costs of managerial control. We conclude that the patterns of ownership in part represent a tradeoff by venture capitalists between the benefits of incentives and the agency costs of control.

Note: Previously titled: An Analysis of Executive Compensation, Ownership, and Control in Closely Held Firms

JEL Classification: G30

Suggested Citation

Baker, Malcolm P. and Gompers, Paul A., Executive Ownership and Control in Newly Public Firms: The Role of Venture Capitalists (November 1999). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=165173 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.165173

Malcolm P. Baker (Contact Author)

Harvard Business School ( email )

Boston, MA 02163
United States
617-495-6566 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.people.hbs.edu/mbaker

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Paul A. Gompers

Harvard Business School - Finance Unit ( email )

Boston, MA 02163
United States
617-495-6297 (Phone)
617-496-8443 (Fax)

Harvard University - Entrepreneurial Management Unit ( email )

Cambridge, MA 02163
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

c/o the Royal Academies of Belgium
Rue Ducale 1 Hertogsstraat
1000 Brussels
Belgium

HOME PAGE: http://www.ecgi.org

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