Airbnb Proposes Giving Hosts a Stake in the Company

Home-sharing platform wants SEC to consider reforming shareholder eligibility rules

Airbnb Inc. has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to change its rules to potentially allow the online home-sharing platform to grant its hosts stock in the company while it is still private.

The San Francisco-based firm sent a letter to the SEC Friday after the regulator sought comments in mid-July about possibly overhauling rules to allow private “gig-economy” companies to offer equity to their so-called contractors, in the same way they do now to employees.

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