I think OP is alluding to the fact there was a big pop on IPO day (which indicates that the IPO was mispriced). Though that is not a "fee", but money left on the table for the company.

And the pop in Airbnb's case was pretty enormous. They priced at $68 and closed on the first day at $144.71

I continue to be flabbergasted any time these companies don't run an auction. Ideally N auctions, spread out through the day.

Google did. The banks liked to release articles saying it was a disaster but they were pricing it lower than that so overall Google came out ahead.

He’s referring to Goldman most likely deliberately underpricing the stock. During the IPO the investment bank gives access to certain folks: Their clients. They doubled their money almost risk free since they know demand.

> They doubled their money almost risk free since they know demand.

They only did double their money if they can sell without pushing the price down. That's not easy to do for institutional investors.

In fact, institutional investors often make informal agreements to not flip the shares in exchange for their allocations.

Right. That's why I always thought buying IPOs is a bit of a mug's game.

Buying anything volatile is a mug's game. An IPO is infinitely volatile since it has no history.

I didn’t know that was a thing.