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Mutual Funds Mark Down Dropbox Holdings

Alfred Lee

and

Steve Nellis

Oct. 02, 2015 7:06 AM PT ·

Comment by Matt Greenfield

Two of Dropbox’s largest mutual fund investors have marked down the value of their holdings in the company by a little over 20% in recent months, the funds disclosed in recent days.

While the reasons for the markdowns aren’t clear, they could reflect the funds’ faltering confidence in the company, valued at $10 billion at its last fundraising early last year. Dropbox’s core business of providing online storage is rapidly being commoditized as Google, Apple and Amazon all offer competing services at lower prices. Dropbox also looks pricey compared to rival Box, which is public and valued at $1.4 billion, despite being expected to generate between half to three-quarters of Dropbox’s estimated revenue this year.

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“There's nothing unusual here—by definition, mutual funds’ private company holding valuations fluctuate based on the markets,” Bryan Schreier, a partner with Sequoia Capital and a Dropbox board member, said in a statement. “We're as bullish as ever on Dropbox. It's one of the extremely rare startups that's becoming a transformational company for both consumers and businesses.”

Matt Greenfield commented on this article.

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