Brilliant Earth raised $115 million in its initial public offering, which opened on Sept. 22 and closed on Sept. 27.
The San Francisco–based e-tailer sold 9.5 million shares of its Class A common stock at $12 a share, including 8.3 million to the public and 1.2 million to its underwriters, who exercised their stock purchase options.
While that’s an impressive haul—and it values the company at over $1 billion—the company did have to scale back its initial IPO. It had originally planned to sell 16 million shares in the $14 to $16 range, for an expected raise of $250 million.
Brilliant Earth’s shares are now trading on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol BRLT. After an initial surge, which saw the stock price top $18, at the time of publication it was trading at $13.20 a share.
In its first Securities and Exchange Commission filing as a public company, Brilliant Earth announced employee agreements with its two cofounders—Beth Gerstein, who serves as CEO, and Eric Grossberg, who is executive chairman—as well as chief financial officer Jeffrey Kuo.
According to Insider, Gerstein and Grossberg, who started the company in 2005 after graduating from the Stanford Business School, are now worth about $430 million apiece. That makes Gerstein among the richest female entrepreneurs in the United States, the publication said, as well as one of approximately 20 female founders to lead a company through an IPO.
The e-tailer celebrated its Nasdaq listing by having a real-life couple—Anthony Yang and Priscilla Chiao—get engaged with a Brilliant Earth diamond ring, in front of a new company billboard close to Nasdaq’s headquarters in Times Square in New York City.
The company recently opened its 14th showroom in Manhattan’s Flatiron District.
Welcoming, @BrilliantEarth to the @Nasdaq family! $BRLT believes in creating jewelry you can feel good about wearing, without ever compromising between quality and conscious. They’re joining us in #TimesSquare today for a special surprise! Follow along to watch it unfold. pic.twitter.com/ElDQavvjDo
— Nasdaq (@Nasdaq) September 23, 2021
Gerstein spoke to JCK shortly after Brilliant Earth went public. The company’s final prospectus can be seen here.
Top: Brilliant Earth’s billboard in Times Square in New York City (photo courtesy of Brilliant Earth)
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