asset sharing

Asset sharing has become a popular theme on Wall Street. There was no shortage of demand when HomeAway and Zipcar went public, and a second-wave of companies, led by airbnb, is currently attracting considerable interest from venture capital firms. Plus, private airplane firm NetJets is owned by a certain oracular billionaire's holding company.

Well, sort of. You can at least own a piece of a yacht... or a jet... or a Ferrari... or a mansion... and the list goes on and on. Welcome to the world of "fractional ownership," sometimes called asset-sharing. While people have shared assets since the beginning of time, the modern version is a...