It may not be the first of the month, but a handful of Twitter execs and investors just got paid. A lot.
Twitter ($TWTR) shares finally hit the open market Thursday, far outperforming the company's target price of $26 per share announced Wednesday afternoon. Stock in the microblogging site hit $45.10 per share at the opening bell, hovering around $45 throughout most of the day, then closed at $44.90.
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The price hike had a particularly positive impact on the wallets of a number of Twitter execs and early investors. Of course, the executive team and early shareholders are required to hold the stock for at least 180 days following the IPO, meaning these earnings are subject to change.
But on paper, these paydays are none too shabby — especially not Ev Williams'.
Evan Williams, Co-Founder: $2.56 billion
Williams provided the cash needed to operate the company from the very beginning, which is why the co-founder and current board member is getting the largest payday outside of the venture capital firms. The former co-founder of Blogger was briefly Twitter CEO after Jack Dorsey, before being ousted by the Twitter board in favor of Dick Costolo. He is the also the co-founder of the blogging site Medium.
Evan Williams
Rizvi Traverse Management: $3.82 billion
Twitter's largest shareholder, a private equity firm called Rizvi Traverse, also has Facebook, Square and Flipboard in its portfolio. (It also reportedly has a controlling stake in Playboy.) The shares held by Rizvi Traverse include shares held by JP Morgan that amounted to 9% of Twitter's pre-IPO ownership.
Spark Capital: $1.46 billion
Spark Capital and general partner Bijan Sabet invested in Twitter back in 2008, and hold 6% of the company following Thursday's IPO. Spark has a large portfolio of tech companies that includes other social media platforms such as Foursquare and Tumblr.
Peter Fenton of Benchmark Capital — $1.42 billion
Benchmark General Partner Peter Fenton led the firm's investment in Twitter back in 2009, and Fenton has a board seat to prove it. Fenton owns roughly 5.8% of Twitter.
Jack Dorsey, former CEO and current Chairman: $1.05 billion
Dorsey is the most widely recognized and well known member of this group. He is a company co-founder and spent his time as a Twitter exec in near constant conflict with fellow co-founders and board members, according to Nick Bilton's Hatching Twitter. Dorsey is also the co-founder and CEO of mobile payments company Square.
Jack Dorsey
Dick Costolo, CEO: $345 million
Costolo joined Twitter in 2009 as COO, leaving behind an executive position with Google. By late 2010, Costolo had replaced Williams as Twitter CEO and hasn't looked back. Costolo's stake in Twitter is 1.4%.
Dick Costolo
Adam Bain, President of Global Revenue: $80 million
Bain joined Twitter in 2010 after more than a decade working in the television industry with Fox Sports and Fox Interactive Media. Bain oversees Twitter's overall ad strategy, a considerable responsibility. Some 89% of the company's revenue through the first nine months of 2013 came from advertising.
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Images: Christina Warren/Mashable, Joi Ito, TechCrunch Disrupt, Joi Ito