Playboy Magazine has been granted an interview with Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the co-founders of the world"s largest and most popular search engine, Google. Slated for release in the September issue of Playboy, the interview is being advertised by Playboy website as "a candid conversation with America"s newest billionaires about their oddball company, how they tamed the Web and why their motto is "Don"t be evil.""
The interview, which was granted a week before they filed their $2.7 billion IPO in late March, has raised speculation that it may not only cause doubt in the general investing public, but may also catch the attention of the Securities & Exchange Commision (SEC). "The SEC has put together the [mandatory] "quiet period" so the market can"t be conditioned, so there shouldn"t be anything that circulates other than material fact," said David Menlow, president of IPO Financial Network, a securities research specialist. "Any interview before Google filed should have raised the arm hairs of the company"s attorneys," he said.
Other companies, including Webvan and Salesforce.com, have been punished by the SEC for speaking out during their quiet period.