• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Erin Brockovich, the activist who defeated a utility giant and inspired a Julia Roberts film, is pushing data centers to be more transparent

2

The Iran conflict has disrupted oil supply. Gulf states are now looking to multi-billion-dollar investments in renewables 

3

Current price of oil as of June 1, 2026

1

Erin Brockovich, the activist who defeated a utility giant and inspired a Julia Roberts film, is pushing data centers to be more transparent

2

The Iran conflict has disrupted oil supply. Gulf states are now looking to multi-billion-dollar investments in renewables 

3

Current price of oil as of June 1, 2026
FinancePinterest

The Pinterest IPO Might Have Made You Richer—Even If You Didn’t Buy the Stock Today

By
Jen Wieczner
Jen Wieczner
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Jen Wieczner
Jen Wieczner
Down Arrow Button Icon
April 18, 2019, 6:07 PM ET

You didn’t necessarily need to buy stock in the Pinterest IPO to make money off the public market debut of the online scrapbooking company.

It’s often difficult for regular investors to get in on the ground floor of hot startups like Pinterest—whose stock rose more than 28% from its initial public offering price of $19, to $24.40 on its first day trading Thursday—as venture capitalists and hedge funds typically dominate private funding rounds. Yet the Pinterest IPO is an exception: One of the social media company’s largest shareholders is Fidelity, which owns Pinterest stock on behalf of many retirement savers, whether they know it or not.

Fidelity owns 7.1% of Pinterest, nearly as much as the 9.6% stake held by Andreessen Horowitz, the famed Silicon Valley VC firm, and more than the 6% owned by Valiant, one of Pinterest’s hedge fund backers. Most of Fidelity’s shares, which are now worth more than $787 million in total, are held in the Fidelity Contrafund, a mutual fund that is a popular offering in 401(k) retirement plans.

Indeed, the massive Contrafund oversees $119.3 billion in assets, of which just under half of 1% is invested in Pinterest. To put that in perspective, the fund has bet more money on Pinterest than it has on other holdings such as Twitter, Coca-Cola and Disney.

And although the IPO values Pinterest just modestly above its valuation in its most recent private funding round, Fidelity still reaped a hefty profit from the public listing. Contrafund, for example, has made a 152% return on its Pinterest investment since it began buying the shares in late 2013, according to securities filings.

A few other Fidelity funds also own smaller amounts of Pinterest stock, including the Fidelity OTC Portfolio, the Fidelity Advisor New Insights fund, and the Fidelity Series Opportunistic Insights fund.

And Pinterest isn’t the only tech IPO the funds are benefiting from this year. Fidelity funds, including all the ones mentioned here, owned shares in Lyft before the ride-hailing company went public in March; their stakes are now worth more than $1 billion combined. They also hold stock in Uber, Lyft’s larger rival that just filed for its own IPO in the coming months, as well as other highly valued private companies such as WeWork and Airbnb.

Fidelity is one of a handful of mutual fund companies that have become more active in startup investing in recent years. Those bets are now beginning to pay off for fund investors: Contrafund, for one, was up nearly 17% year to date through Wednesday—not counting Pinterest’s soaring first day—ahead of the S&P 500’s gain. For those who have a 401(k) plan with Fidelity, there’s a good chance you got a piece of the action too.

About the Author
By Jen Wieczner
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Finance

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Finance

New jobs report shows 7.6 million job openings added in April as layoffs and people quitting their jobs both fell
EconomyU.S. jobs report
New jobs report shows 7.6 million job openings added in April as layoffs and people quitting their jobs both fell
By The Associated Press and Paul WisemanJune 2, 2026
1 hour ago
Trump replaces Gabbard with housing chief Bill Pulte, grandson of the founder of one of the country’s largest homebuilders
Real EstateDonald Trump
Trump replaces Gabbard with housing chief Bill Pulte, grandson of the founder of one of the country’s largest homebuilders
By The Associated Press and Josh BoakJune 2, 2026
1 hour ago
MIAMI, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 24: A customer pumps gas into their vehicle on October 24, 2025 in Miami, Florida. According to the new Bureau of Labor Statistics data released on October 24, the 12-month inflation rate climbed to 3 percent in September, up from 2.9 percent in August, as gasoline prices rose by 4.1 percent, a major driver of inflation last month. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Economygeopolitics
Iran war has cost U.S. families $100 billion between increased military funding and higher oil prices, says Moody’s
By Eleanor PringleJune 2, 2026
1 hour ago
Teenager working in ice cream shop
SuccessJobs
Hundreds of teens are flooding job ads to work at ice cream shops and swimming pools as they grapple with the worst summer job market in 80 years
By Emma BurleighJune 2, 2026
2 hours ago
Current price of gold as of June 2, 2026
Personal Financegold prices
Current price of gold as of June 2, 2026
By Danny BakstJune 2, 2026
3 hours ago
Andrew Yang speaks during a panel discussion in New York
Startups & VentureAndrew yang
Andrew Yang’s upstart cell phone business acquires Helium Mobile
By Jack KubinecJune 2, 2026
3 hours ago

Most Popular

Erin Brockovich, the activist who defeated a utility giant and inspired a Julia Roberts film, is pushing data centers to be more transparent
Environment
Erin Brockovich, the activist who defeated a utility giant and inspired a Julia Roberts film, is pushing data centers to be more transparent
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJune 1, 2026
22 hours ago
The Iran conflict has disrupted oil supply. Gulf states are now looking to multi-billion-dollar investments in renewables 
Energy
The Iran conflict has disrupted oil supply. Gulf states are now looking to multi-billion-dollar investments in renewables 
By Melissa HancockJune 1, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of oil as of June 1, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 1, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 1, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of silver as of Monday, June 1, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Monday, June 1, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 1, 2026
1 day ago
After issuing more than $20 billion in tariff refunds, the Trump administration is now pursuing legal action to bring the process to a standstill
Law
After issuing more than $20 billion in tariff refunds, the Trump administration is now pursuing legal action to bring the process to a standstill
By Sasha RogelbergJune 1, 2026
23 hours ago
Cognizant CEO is swimming against the tide on AI: he's hiring over 20,000 graduates this year and says AI tokenmaxxing is a 'vanity metric'
Conferences
Cognizant CEO is swimming against the tide on AI: he's hiring over 20,000 graduates this year and says AI tokenmaxxing is a 'vanity metric'
By Preston ForeJune 1, 2026
16 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.