Bending Spoons (NASDAQ:BSP) bought Vimeo, and within months, several outlets reported staff cuts. Business Insider reported that Vimeo was laying off staff globally after its $1.38 billion sale to Bending Spoons. Net Influencer also reported this, and the company confirmed the cuts. Bending Spoons’ chief executive, Luca Ferrari, now says that cutting headcount is outside the core of his firm’s strategy.
Bending Spoons is a public company. Bending Spoons S.p.A. is an Italian technology company headquartered in Milan, listed on Nasdaq as a foreign private issuer that files with the SEC on Form 20-F. Its most recent 6-K filing is on EDGAR, according to Gizmodo.
Ferrari’s Case Against the Private Equity Label
Ferrari made his case on the Prof G Markets podcast hosted by Ed Elson. Quotes and figures below come from that interview.
He named three differences between Bending Spoons and traditional private equity. First, Bending Spoons does not operate as a fund and has never sold a material business, while it rebuilds acquired companies by re-architecting cloud infrastructure, rewriting code, and rethinking revenue models. Third, it moves each acquisition into a shared internal platform built on dozens of proprietary technologies.
Ferrari describes an 800-person core team of software engineers, data scientists, product managers and designers. Within months of closing, each acquired company’s outside vendors are replaced with in-house technology. That is an engineering thesis.
A Lock-In Admission Shareholders Should Weigh
Ferrari’s most telling remark was about integration, according to Gizmodo. He said it is so complete that selling one of the firm’s businesses would be “almost impossible” even if Bending Spoons wanted to, according to Gizmodo. He offers this as proof of commitment, setting his firm apart from buyers who flip assets.
For a listed company, the statement signals two things: acquisitions are permanent, and Bending Spoons has no easy exit. If an acquisition failed, Ferrari’s own description suggests no clean way to sell it. Nothing reported indicates any specific deal has failed.
What Independent Reporting Shows
WeTransfer: In September 2024, Reuters reported that Bending Spoons would lay off 75% of WeTransfer staff, and TechCrunch reported the same 75% figure. Elson noted the cuts came within 2 months of acquisition. On the podcast, he asked whether headcount reduction is central to strategy or whether the firm resembles private equity more than Ferrari accepts.
Vimeo: Gizmodo reported that Vimeo laid off “most” of its staff. PetaPixel, unlike Gizmodo, reported “almost all” staff were cut. Net Influencer reported global job cuts described as “major” layoffs, according to MLQ.ai. Terms varied, and no consistent percentage came out.
Where Ferrari’s Argument and the Record Meet
Both deals followed the same pattern: acquire, then cut headcount sharply within months, and Ferrari says cuts follow from replacing vendors and engineering with Bending Spoons’ own systems. Both accounts can be true. Which one is right matters greatly to affected employees and less to financial outcomes. The podcast left that open.
How BSP Shares Are Trading
Bending Spoons traded at $32.03 in premarket as of 08:00 UTC on October 5, 2026. Market capitalization is $10.41 billion. Shares moved -3.67% over one week and -21.63% over one month.
Available price history for the stock begins on July 1, 2026, and the change from that date to the current quote is -20.91%. That window is too short for a meaningful one-year, five-year or ten-year comparison, and no year-to-date figure is available.
Permanence Comes With a Price Tag
Ferrari’s model asks shareholders to accept permanence: businesses bought, held, and integrated so deeply they cannot be separated. It is a calculated strategic choice with clear rationale. It also means the market prices a portfolio that cannot be unwound, and the stock’s recent decline shows how the market is currently pricing it.