Human IPO: Man Sells Himself For $10,000
When faced with a problem or complicated situation it’s not uncommon for a person to ask friends for advice. But would you allow friends to make decisions about how to live your life? In 2008 Mike Merrill decided to split himself into 100,000 shares and set an initial public offering price of $1 per share. Shareholders would get voting privileges and decide what Merrill would do on a daily basis and on a grander scale, no questions asked.
Merrill started out by selling 929 shares to twelve of his friends. He paid $500 to a web developer to create a site with an online trading and voting platform. The share price operates in a free market manner- if shareholders don't like what Merrill is doing, they can simply sell shares and drive the price down. Within five years, Mike sold over 3,700 shares of himself and his stock price, which is calculated in real time, hit a high of $20.
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Shareholders voted down a vasectomy when Merrill decided he didn't want children, decided he would wear Brooks Brothers exclusively, that he must be a vegetarian and vote Republican. He even granted voting members the rights to his romantic life, approving every date he goes on and every girlfriend.
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Merrill has faced some personal issues due to his highly public life. His live-in girlfriend left him because she didn’t have a say in anything he did. Shareholders often vote down choices he wants to make, like working out more and eating meat. Merrill identifies as a straight male but shareholders have voted for him to go on a date with another man and with a polyamorous woman.
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/sell-yourself-10-000-135455858.html
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