Latest / The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How Founders Use Pre-Exit Gifting to Reduce Tax Bills
Episode 80 of The Startup Exit Podcast dives into a quiet but powerful liquidity strategy: pre-IPO gifting. Lucas and Luna explore how founders transfer shares to family trusts or donor-advised funds ahead of an exit, locking in lower valuations for tax purposes while keeping control. The conversation uses a concrete example: a founder holding shares valued at $15 million before an IPO, gifting them when the 409A valuation is low, and saving millions in capital gains tax. They cite current market data including NVIDIA's 7.7% drop and Shopify's 8.2% gain to show how volatility…
The skinny
The skinny isn't ready yet — notes appear once the transcript is processed.