The Bling #Ring: Twitter Hits the New York Stock Exchange Today

Here it is. (Photo: Getty Images/Andrew Burton)

Under the blessing of Sir Patrick Stewart, the highly anticipated Twitter IPO joined the party on the New York Stock Exchange. After initially pricing itself at $26 a share, TWTR immediately popped to $45.10, which puts the company at a $25 billion valuation.

CNBC reports that more than 30 million shares changed hands in the first half hour of trading. Shares quickly hit $50, before settling below that.

Today's momentous day was brought to you by the hashtag #Ring, which was fired off from the Twitter account when the opening day started at 9:30 a.m. Joining Mr. Stewart (NOT in a lobster suit) in opening the stock exchange were nine year old Vivienne Harr and a member of the Boston Police Department since Twitter rules everything around them.

And the gang was all there, too! Jack Dorsey, sporting a fresh new buzz cut, joined Biz Stone, Evan Williams and Dick Costolo (and his arms). Mr. Dorsey posted a video to Vine with a clever nod to his first tweet. It's real, it's happening!

Over at Twitter HQ's in San Francisco, employees gathered around huge televisions and were forced to watch the coverage on CNBC. They were treated to $1.8 billion worth of doughnuts (although evidence of that has been suspiciously scrubbed), smiles and the satisfaction that it wasn't a Facebook-like disaster.

And remember, while that pop looks good to the outside world, it's essentially cash left on the table for Twitter.

Update 1:05 p.m.: It looks like Twitter higher ups stopped by the New York offices to chat with excited employees. The stock is trading just north of its opening price at $45.83.

https://twitter.com/dannyhertz/status/398494348981321728