Dropbox topped its private valuation in its market debut today, as investors piled into the file sharing company's initial public offering – the largest since Snap owner Snapchat – causing its shares to surge by as much as 50pc.

The stock, which had been priced at $21 prior to the initial public offering, started trading at $29 apiece, shooting up as high as $31.60 at one point. Shares closed at $28.48, giving Dropbox a market value of $11.2bn (£7.9bn), exceeding the $10bn price tag it had received at its last private funding round in 2014.

It marks a turnaround for the group, which earlier this month had said it was targetting a valuation of around $7bn – a decision one private equity firm had described as a "slap in the face" to investors of the 2014 round.

It had hiked the price range earlier this week as demand for its shares swelled.

The debut saw Dropbox's co-founder Arash Ferdowsi's net worth hit $1.1bn, becoming the second billionaire within the Dropbox team, after fellow co-founder and chief executive Drew Houston.