When a company’s share price suddenly jumps, it’s usually in response to announcements—like a merger or a great earnings release—that top executives have prepared for weeks. Sometimes, though, the good news comes out of the blue and is as much of a surprise to the CEO as it is to the rest of the market. That’s what happened last month, when S&P Dow Jones announced that the financial platform Robinhood would be joining its all-important index of 500 leading U.S. companies, leading the price of HOOD shares to soar nearly 16% in a day.
The company’s CEO, Vlad Tenev, was quick to issue a statement (“It’s an exciting milestone to have Robinhood join the storied S&P 500 Index”). But the company confirmed that Tenev found out about the news like everyone else—from an S&P press release that, on days when one goes out, always lands at 5:15 p.m. ET, but whose content is otherwise unpredictable.
