Toast’s (NYSE:TOST) surge past $30 billion in market cap in its stock market debut on Wednesday turned all three of its co-founders into billionaires.
Steve Fredette, Aman Narang and Jonathan Grimm started the company in 2012 after their prior employer, Endeca, was sold to Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) for $1 billion. They stayed home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Endeca was based, and built their restaurant hardware and software system by testing products on local bars, restaurants and cafes.
Fredette, Toast’s president, owns 33.2 million shares, for a stake worth $2.1 billion as of Wednesday’s close. Grimm, the company’s chief technology officer, controls 26.8 million shares, worth $1.7 billion, while Narang, the chief operating officer, owns 24.6 million shares, for a stake valued at just over $1.5 billion.
The three founders and other insiders are restricted from selling stock for 180 days as part of the lockup agreement, so the value of their stakes could go up or down dramatically by the time they can start cashing out.
Toast’s initial product almost a decade ago focused on mobile payments, allowing consumers to pay for meals from their devices. However, the point-of-sale systems at restaurants made integrations difficult, if not impossible, at that time.
To make real headway in an industry with low margins and tight budgets, Toast decided it needed to rebuild the entire tech stack, including all the hardware and software that restaurants use to manage their operations.
TOST shares declined 62 cents, or 1%, to $61.89
