Paul Allen Wired World Portfolio Update
Back in July of 1999, I created a "Wired World" portfolio to track the many public companies in Paul Allen's Wired World at that time. I based the prices as of the market close on July 2, 1999.
The portfolio was composed of 20 stocks and was weighted by market cap. The original investment was $100,000.
I'm here to report that as of the close on Friday, April 28th, had you invested $100,000 in this portfolio, you would not be too thrilled with its performance, to say the least.
The portfolio is down -41.5%, so your $100,000 is now worth $58,487. Had you invested your $100,000 instead in the Nasdaq 100, it would now be worth $162,313 or a gain of 62%.
Obviously, the portfolio hasn't performed very well, and when you compare it to an index, like the Nasdaq 100, it looks even worse.
What brought the portfolio down so much? Well, simply put, almost everything. Of the 20 stocks in the portfolio, only five of them have positive returns. And B2C stocks like HLYW, VUSA, and BYND got slaughtered, down -64.1%, -90.1%, and -92.1% respectively.
To take a look at the portfolio, click here:
siliconinvestor.com
I also thought it would be interesting to look at the change in market cap. Of course, the picture ain't any prettier:
Market Cap Change 7/2/99 to 4/28/00
Expressed in Millions
7/2/99 4/28/00 Change
ARIS 19.80 35.4 15.60
CLKS 53.50 139.8 86.30
MCRE 146.60 307.0 160.40
FATB 173.70 67.6 -106.10
ZANY 204.00 85.0 -119.00
TSCN 301.00 164.6 -136.40
EGGS 363.00 172.7 -190.30
NETP 474.40 509.5 35.10
HRBC 484.60 747.4 262.80
MCOM 530.50 858.5 328.00
VUSA 836.90 83.9 -753.00
HLYW 887.80 320.6 -567.20
BYND 994.20 82.7 -911.50
STMP 1,165.00 775.5 -389.50
ZD 1,522.00 1,021 -501.00
HSAC 1,588.00 435.1 -1,152.90
GNET 2,316.00 1,819.0 -497.00
CNET 3,548.00 2,926.0 -622.00
NPNT 4,587.00 2,067.0 -2,520.00
PCLN 15,869.00 10,760.0 -5,109.00
total -12,686.70
Well, a total of $12.68 Billion of Market cap was lost in almost 10 months.
Paul Allen had a reputation in the past for not making the most savvy of investments. The press had grilled him for getting in AOL early, only to sell out way too early.
I'm curious to hear people's own comments on Paul Allen's investments and his overall strategy to build his Wired World.
Can it work with returns like these?
Adam S.
P.S. You can find the original weightings and justification at Message 10381310
P.P.S I apologize in advance if my tone sounds a little negative. But it's difficult to sound chipper with returns like these. The facts are the facts. |
