Other securities firms let their employees participate in venture-capital funds run by the firm. But they typically have them managed by separate business units uninvolved in the IPO process, to avoid any potential conflicts. The CSFB bankers asked for a piece of the action. But we wanted to keep it limited. When Messrs. Quattrone, Boutros and Brady sold shares in October 2000, a year after the IPO, Interwoven shares were near their peak.
Interwoven shares are now down from their peak but still well above their IPO price.
Mr. Quattrone and his group made similar investments in some of the companies CSFB later took public, including Riverdeep Group PLC, according to regulatory filings. CSFB says that not all the companies the group invested in were CSFB clients or eventually went public. Beyond CSFB's investment vehicles, Mr. Quattrone was a longtime investor in funds run by some of the most prominent venture capitalists in Silicon Valley. He was an investor in Technology Crossover Ventures, Foundation Capital, Accel Partners, New Enterprise Associates, Integral Partners and the venture fund run by hedge-fund investor Larry Bowman. One of his strongest relationships was with Technology Crossover Ventures, which chose CSFB more than other securities firms to manage IPOs of companies TCV had invested in.