The View | Preventing mere mortals from interfering with a great visionary’s leadership

Mainland online retailer Dangdang enjoyed a smashing debut on the New York stock exchange just over four years ago, rising nearly 90 per cent above the US$16 IPO price.

Shortly thereafter, the chief executive threw a public temper tantrum, claiming in a micro-blog posting that his bankers, including Morgan Stanley, had fleeced him by selling his stake too cheaply.

I’ve had a hard time keeping my eyes off the share price since then.

The chief executive, Li Guoqing, might have missed a few points crucial to initial public offering management. One is that a rocketing listing debut can be great publicity – which shouldn’t be marred by the chief executive crying out “that’s my money”.

The second is that a post-IPO stock surge is not always a rock-solid indicator of fortunes to come. And sure enough, within months, Dangdang’s shares were under water, where they have mostly remained ever since. Today they are worth around US$9 a share.

And finally, it is good practice, in any kind of sale, to leave a little chance of enduring gain on the table for the buyer, especially if you plan to hit them up for money in the future. Dangdang raised US$272 million in its IPO, and since then has accumulated net losses of about US$200 million.