AppLovin Shares Drop 14%, $8.65B in Executives Wealth Erased
According to Bloomberg, AppLovin’s stock plunged after reports surfaced that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is probing its data-collection practices tied to targeted ads. This move appears to have erased approximately $8.65 billion in value held by the company’s top executives and early backers.
Key Developments
- The SEC is investigating whether AppLovin circumvented its partners’ data-sharing rules by using unauthorized tracking methods to deliver hyper-targeted ads.
- Following the news, AppLovin’s stock dropped about 14%, triggering massive paper losses among insiders and early investors.
- CEO Adam Foroughi’s net worth reportedly fell by ~$3.4B. Cofounders Andrew Karam and John Krystynak lost ~$460M and ~$540M respectively. Early investors—such as Ling Tang, Hao Tang, and Eduardo Vivas—also saw losses in the hundreds of millions to over a billion.
Background & Context
- The probe follows allegations from a whistleblower and multiple short-seller reports accusing AppLovin of “fingerprinting” users to bypass platform rules and gather identifiers across Meta, Google, Snap, and other platforms.
- While no formal wrongdoing has yet been declared, the company could face regulatory penalties if violations are confirmed.
- AppLovin’s stock had enjoyed a meteoric rise over the past year, at one point elevating Foroughi, Karam, and Vivas into the Forbes 400.
- The company only recently joined the S&P 500, despite ongoing controversy surrounding its data practices.
- It has previously defended against similar short-seller allegations, including challenging claims around its AXON AI engine and app behavior.
