Spotify's value shot up dramatically in its New York listing on Tuesday, pushing the music streaming giant’s market capitalisation as high as $30bn (£21bn) and making its flotation the third-biggest for a technology company on record.
The Swedish company defied some predictions of a tricky first day on the markets to open trading at $165.90, well above the $132 “reference price” that had been set the night before, although shares later lost some ground to close at around $149.
The flotation had attracted intense attention because of its unusual “direct listing” approach, in which Spotify did not sell any new shares but allowed existing shareholders to sell their holdings with few restrictions....