When its stock hit $151,006 per share on November 20, Denver toothpick maker Tonssill achieved a market valuation of $500 billion. That makes it the fourth most valuable company in the world.
Founder Neal Molling told reporters that while he’s pleased at achieving the milestone, he isn’t surprised.
“Our toothpicks are the same size and shape and made of the same wood as any other toothpick,” he said. “It’s the way we’ve disrupted the toothpick industry that has made us the success we are.”
Molling started the company in 2016 – at age 17 in his mother’s scrapbooking room – and two hears later received $829 million from venture capitalists to fund its growth.
“It’s not about how the consumer consumes the toothpick,” he famously said in a 2018 interview with Must magazine. “It’s about how the toothpick consumes the consumer.”
Tonnsill lost $12 billion in 2019 and $26 billion in 2020, and is expected to lose even more per year from 2021 through 2030. The company sold 22 toothpicks in 2017 – “pretty much on target,” says Molling – and is expected to break the 100 mark by 2024.
“Once we hit that,” says Molling, “there’s going to be no stopping us.”
