AppLovin shares tumbled as the Securities and Exchange Commission launched a probe into alleged data-collection violations tied to targeted ads, according to Bloomberg, erasing about $8.65 billion in wealth held by the company’s top executives and key early investors.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether AppLovin broke its partners’ data-sharing rules by using unauthorized tracking tools to deliver highly targeted ads to consumers, according to Bloomberg.
This reported probe sent AppLovin’s stock tumbling by 14% on Monday, erasing an estimated $8.65 billion in executive and top pre-IPO investor wealth, according to Forbes estimates.
CEO Adam Foroughi’s estimated net worth dropped by about $3.4 billion Monday, while cofounders Andrew Karam and John Krystynak lost roughly $460 million and $540 million, respectively.
Major early investors were also hit: Ling Tang is down by $1.7 billion, Hao Tang is down by $1.1 billion and Eduardo Vivas is down by $710 million, among others, according to Forbes estimates.
The reported investigation stems from a whistleblower complaint and a series of short-seller reports published earlier this year accusing AppLovin of “fingerprinting” users—a practice banned by Apple’s App Store—by allegedly collecting identifiers from multiple platforms to track activity and serve targeted ads.
While the SEC has reportedly not accused AppLovin or its executives of wrongdoing, the company could face penalties if regulators ultimately determine the violations occurred.
Over the past year, AppLovin’s market cap has soared as high as $226 billion, but has since declined to about $198.8 billion. The company joined the S&P 500 last month, replacing MarketAxess Holdings, despite efforts by Fuzzy Panda Research, a short-selling firm, to block its inclusion over concerns about AppLovin’s data practices. Shortly after, Muddy Waters, another prominent short-seller, accused AppLovin of breaching App Store policies by allegedly collecting proprietary user IDs from major platforms such as Meta, Snap and Google to deliver targeted ads without consent. Earlier reports from Fuzzy Panda and Culper Research also criticized the company’s AXON software as short sellers claimed it may rely on improper user data collection methods to target ads—a claim which caused a 12% stock drop in February, according to CNBC. Fouraghi in a blog post defended AppLovin’s technology and dismissed short-sellers' allegations as false.
That’s how much AppLovin’s stock has soared over the past year, minting three AppLovin-related newcomers to the Forbes 400: Fouragi, Karam, and Vivas.