Tech CEOs in San Francisco are paying up to $10 million to throw ragers when their companies go public — and they're going all out with ice sculptures, A-list celebs, and themed concerts

IPO party

San Francisco may be home to many more millionaires by the end of 2019 if several tech start-ups in the area go public, reported Nellie Bowles for The New York Times.
The start-ups are planning to celebrate their IPOs with epic parties that can cost more than $10 million.
These ragers include everything from A-list performers and themed concerts to 10-foot ice sculptures.

There's no party like an IPO party — especially in the Bay Area, where tech reigns supreme.

San Francisco may be welcoming a massive number of millionaires by the end of 2019 if some of its several tech start-ups go public as anticipated, reported Nellie Bowles for The New York Times. According to Bowles, Uber, Lyft, Slack, Postmates, Pinterest, and Airbnb are all keeping their fingers crossed for an IPO this year.

And their executives are preparing accordingly — with celebratory ragers that can cost up to $10 million or more.

That's the price of the largest start-up parties, although they are "rare and extraordinary," Jay Siegan, who provides private entertainment and music for events, told Business Insider.

"We see multiple parties per IPO for the company that is IPOing, as well as firms that are associated to them," Siegan told Bowles. "They're wanting to bring in A-list celebrities to perform at the dinner tables for the executives. They want ballet performers."

Clients are even seeking entertainment in the form of themed concerts with fleets of bands, Siegan told Bowles.

They also want ice — and lots of it.

Robert Chislett, founder of ice-sculpting company Chisel-it, told Bowles he's expecting a "long year." He's "chiseled a full-size ice car for a tech executive’s party in Atherton and a 10-foot ice Taj Mahal for another’s swimming pool in San Jose," Bowles wrote.

That's not to mention requests like ice chairs, ice rockets "to indicate that the company's stock will be like a rocket," and ice cubes, of course — all to be carved with the company's logo, Chislett told Bowles.

Over-the-top parties are arguably a rite of passage when a company goes public. When Alibaba celebrated its IPO, it threw a wild, all-night party at its headquarters, which were transformed into the New York Stock Exchange.

But IPO or no IPO, Silicon Valley parties in general are known to be extreme. Consider venture capitalist and philanthropist Jillian Manus, who often throws outrageous fundraising parties where the "who's who of Silicon Valley shows up," Business Insider previously reported.

Over the years, Manus' parties, known as "the toast of Silicon Valley," have included a San Francisco Symphony concert on the lawn of her Atherton estate, a recreation of Woodstock, and live elephants greeting guests at the door.

Read the full New York Times article here »

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