US tech groups that had the biggest post-IPO values — chart

Snap may be valued at up to $25bn following its initial public offering. That would propel it onto the list of the US tech groups that garnered the highest market values following their IPOs.

That’s not necessarily a good thing.

While some of the most important US tech companies, like Facebook and Google (now called Alphabet) are part of the elite group, several companies have had a rougher go at it.

As an example, Palm, the maker of the eponymous electronic tablet, was worth $21.3bn after its March 2000 IPO. It was bought by Hewlett-Packard a decade later for $1.2bn.

Groupon, the couponing website, offers a similar cautionary tale. It boasted a market value of $12.9bn after its IPO a little more than five years ago. But the market cap has since skidded to $2bn.