The initial public offering (IPO) of Spotify at the New York Stock Exchange started with an unfortunate mix-up as the NYSE tried to welcome the Stockholm-based giant. But geography turned out to be a more difficult subject than international finances for them. Instead of the Swedish flag, a Swiss banner with a white cross was mounted on the NYSE’s building along with two American flags.
This didn’t go unnoticed by Twitter users, who spotted the mistake.
NYSE using the Swiss flag for @Spotify entering the stock market. $SPOT 😂 #spotifyipo 🇨🇭🇸🇪 pic.twitter.com/VUBOJFTILF
— Joachim Löfstedt (@jlofstedt) 3 апреля 2018 г.
The NYSE, which swapped the flag on the day of the IPO, tried to play out the mishap, posting a tweet comparing its neutral role with the Swiss stance in international relations.
We hope everyone enjoyed our momentary ode to our neutral role in the process of price discovery this morning
— NYSE (@NYSE) 3 апреля 2018 г.
According to the Verge website, the NYSE also joked that the famous musical service had something to do with the confusion, tweeting, “Our flag guy was rocking his Spotify playlist a little hard this morning and grabbed the wrong flag.” This one was later deleted.
The Swedish American Chamber of Commerce of New England didn’t take the mishap close to the heart and posted a reassuring tweet, stating that Swedish-Swiss mix-ups are a common mistake.
Congratulations to @Spotify and Daniel Ek @eldsjal! @NYSE — the Swedish/Swiss mixup is a common mistake made even more difficult by the fact that we Swedes also have great chocolate!! 🇸🇪🇨🇭
— SACC-NE (@saccne) 3 апреля 2018 г.
The matter was as sweet as Swiss chocolate for Twitter users, who couldn’t miss out on this mistake.
— ᴅɪᴠɪᴅᴇɴᴅ ʙᴏᴍʙᴇʀ (@dividendbomber) 3 апреля 2018 г.
This reminds me of the 2016 April Fools' joke from @swedense https://t.co/O18ck6XTr4 #Swedenland pic.twitter.com/710eoXwihb
— Hampus Malmström (@Thildir) 3 апреля 2018 г.
Spotify is from Sweden 🇸🇪
— Oli Young (@oliyoung) 4 апреля 2018 г.
That flag is from Switzerland 🇨🇭
They aren't even the same colours.
Geography is hard. pic.twitter.com/LIz2g3DdQl
“NYSE briefly flew a Swiss flag in honor of Spotify which the NYSE later described on Twitter as a ‘momentary ode to our neutral role in the process of price discovery.” Truth is: Sweden and Switzerland have the same first two letters in their name. They will try harder next time
— Tren Griffin (@trengriffin) 4 апреля 2018 г.
How do you say “Oops” in Swedish? The New York Stock Exchange welcomed the Sweden-based company Spotify on its first day of trading by flying a Swiss flag out front. @nytimes pic.twitter.com/QW04y66MNq
— @hell0itsLili (@hell0itsLili) 4 апреля 2018 г.
Despite entering the stock exchange under the wrong banner, Spotify finished its first day on the NYSE with a valuation of $26.5 billion, with opening price of $165.90.
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