Joe Montana Wins Big With His First IPO as a Venture Capitalist
When GitLab hit the Nasdaq market floor, it was Joe Montana’s first IPO for his venture capital firm Liquid 2 Ventures.
Oct. 18 2021, Published 8:08 a.m. ET
When GitLab (GTLB) hit the Nasdaq market floor on Oct. 14, it was famed NFL quarterback Joe Montana’s first IPO for his venture capital firm Liquid 2 Ventures.
GitLab IPO pops on the first day of trading.
It was a great first start for the budding venture capitalist. Priced at $77 per share when trading opened, GitLab stock jumped up 35 percent to give it a market cap of $15 billion, which is much higher than the $8 billion valuation that it was originally looking for.
GitLab closed at just over $103 per share by the end of trading on Oct. 14. The IPO raised more than $800 million.
The success of GitLab’s IPO probably wasn't a surprise for Montana. He told CNBC the day before the IPO, “This is going to be a monster for us.” Montana was reportedly vacationing in Italy when trading opened for GitLab.
What are Joe Montana’s investments?
After spending years on the football field as the San Francisco 49ers’ Super Bowl-winning quarterback, Montana decided to invest in startups in his retirement years. He first joined fellow 49er players Harris Barton and Ronnie Lott in the investment firm HRJ.
Montana left HRJ in 2005 and 10 years later he started Liquid 2 Ventures in 2015 with a $28 million fund. His son, Nate, is the firm's product manager, which also includes former startup founders Mike Miller and Michael Ma.
GitLab was one of Liquid 2’s first investments in 2015. The company, which provides an open-source code collaboration platform, was part of a Y Combinator accelerator program. Montana’s firm along with other investors including Ashton Kutcher and Khosla Ventures, helped the startup raise $1.5 million in seed funding, which gave it a valuation of about $12 million.
According to Crunchbase, Montana now has about 25 companies in the Liquid 2 Ventures portfolio. He told CNBC recently that “we have 12 or 13 more unicorns in the portfolio.” A “unicorn” is a startup company that is valued at $1 billion or more.
The unicorns in Montana’s portfolio include autonomous vehicle startup Applied Intuition and defense technology company Anduril, CNBC reports. Montana’s most recent investment is Joy, a wedding planning app, which he gave $20 million in September, Crunchbase shows.
Some of Montana’s other investments include:
Rappi - a Colombian information technology company
C16 Bioscience - a biotech company looking for natural alternatives to palm oil
Solugen - a company offering environmentally-friendly products
Eden - a marketplace for handyman work, plumbers, movers, and more
Dexterity - provides robotic systems for logistics and supply chains
Makara - the first SEC-registered cryptocurrency robo adviser
What is Joe Montana’s net worth?
Montana has amassed a net worth of about $150 million through his stellar NFL career, endorsement contracts, and investment ventures, reports CelebrityNetWorth.com. Despite leading the 49ers to four Super Bowl victories, the “Comeback Kid” only made about $25 million during his NFL career, which pales compared to what quarterbacks earn today.
Most of Montana’s net worth came from the many endorsements he had after he retired from football. He has appeared in commercials for Schick, Guinness, Mastercard, Skechers, Papa John's, AT&T, and more.
