Despite bleak market conditions, online payment service PayPal filed to raise $80.5 million in an initial public offering Friday.
For the past 18 months, investors have fled the tech sector, and many analysts are saying that the terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center earlier this month will drag the economy into a recession. The Nasdaq stock exchange is hovering near its three-year low, and the share prices of most technology companies have plummeted.
A person-to-person payment service that allows people to send money via e-mail, PayPal is a favorite payment method of online auctioneers. According to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 70 percent of PayPal"s transaction volume comes from auctioneers, "particularly eBay."
The 2-year-old Palo Alto, Calif.-based company has more than 10 million customers.