AppLovin CEO Rejected by Venture Firms Is Now Worth $1.8 Billion

Less than three years ago, Adam Foroughi made the unusual move of tapping the leveraged-loan market to finance his mobile-app startup, AppLovin Corp.

The $820 million loan allowed Foroughi, 40 as of late February, to pay off debt and invest in the business without sacrificing his own equity. It was a solid bet as his stake in AppLovin is now worth about $1.8 billion during the company’s first day of trading. Shares were down 6.6% to $65.40 at 2:08 p.m. in New York, a lackluster start for the business, which had priced its stock at $80.

“I was a derivatives ...