CFO Briefing

Is it Still the ‘Year of the IPO’ After Rout in Tech Stocks?

Jon Gray’s prediction still holds up — for now.

Jon Gray, president and chief operating officer of Blackstone Inc., speaks at a symposium in Melbourne, Australia, on March 25, 2025.Photographer: Carla Gottgens/Bloomberg

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By Heather Landy and Micah Barkley

February 8, 2026 at 9:00 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Welcome to CFO Briefing, a newsletter dedicated to corporate finance and what leaders need to know. This week: BNP Paribas CFO Lars Machenil says Europe is back. But first, we quickly check in on whether it’s still “the year of the IPO.”

One week doesn’t a month make. However, with Blackstone Inc. President Jon Gray declaring on Tuesday that “2026 should be the year of the IPO,” it’s worth noting that the drumbeat of initial public offerings has already slowed from January’s swift tempo.