Problems at Corporate Charities

Tickers: EXFY, RIVN, PATH, BRZE, FRSH, XMTR, BROS, WRBY, and APTM

Dozens of unprofitable IPOs are donating investor dollars to charities, often those affiliated with the founders. The Bear Cave has used the SEC’s Full-Text Search tool to conduct a review of every company that uses “donate” in its S-1 and has a substantive policy of donating investor IPO proceeds to charity. The findings are concerning.

For example, Expensify (NASDAQ: EXFY — $1.35 billion), an expense management software company, publicized “a commitment to donate 25 cents for every dollar we pay to white, male Expensify employees to Expensify.org to fund social justice and equity efforts.” In addition, Expensify donates 10% of the interchange amount from its corporate cardholders to its charity. That charity, controlled by Expensify management, offers $50 incentives to qualifying people that get vaccinated.

In October 2020, Expensify’s CEO and founder, David Barrett, emailed all 10 million Expensify customers and wrote, “If you are a U.S. citizen, anything less than a vote for Biden i…