Matt Levine, Columnist

Unicorns Are Worth Twice As Much As Last Month

If SoftBank keeps throwing cash at startups like WeWork, the numbers will start to lose their meaning.

How about a $40 billion valuation?

Photographer: Mike Short/Bloomberg

This post originally appeared in Money Stuff.

It feels like it’s been a while since I have read any dire warnings about overstretched valuations of private technology companies and the imminent crash of the unicorn bubble. I guess everything is fine? “E-scooter company Bird is seeking to raise around $200 million in new funding at a $2 billion valuation,” reported Dan Primack on Tuesday, “just weeks after it raised $150 million at a $1 billion valuation, and only three months after raising at a $300 million valuation.” Pretty normal! It’s a bird unicorn? A painted bunting? A scooticorn? I kind of admire the approach. Sure you must be exhausted from raising a big funding round weeks ago, but if you wait even another few weeks, there's a risk that your buzz will wear off and people will have a new random obsession. “When the ducks are quacking, feed them,” capital markets bankers will tell you, and Bird took that lesson to its avian heart.