backtop

Internet Facebook to Go Public May 18
Tiffany Kaiser - May 2, 2012 1:47 PM
Print 13 comment(s) - last by ShaolinSoccer.. on May 4 at 3:20 PM

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg  (Source: mshcdn.com)
Facebook will list its stock under the ticker symbol "FB" on NASDAQ

Facebook announced that its initial public offering (IPO) will take place May 18, 2012.

Social networking giant Facebook revealed that it was planning a 2012 IPO back in November 2011. The company was talking about raising $10 billion for the initial public offering.

Many had previously thought a 2011 IPO was in the works, but a shaky economy and ongoing privacy battles with the U.S. government put everything on hold.

In February 2012, Facebook made the IPO official. The company said it was looking to sell $5 billion of its private shares and hoped to be valued at $100 billion.

Now, Facebook will go public May 18. It is looking to raise $5 billion in the offering.

The company's roadshow is expected to start Monday, where prospective investors will take part in a series of meetings to draw interest in Facebook's stock. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, will be present at some of the meetings.

Facebook will list its stock under the ticker symbol "FB" on NASDAQ.

Facebook has had an eventful month, with its North Carolina data center officially going online to serve live user traffic, its patent infringement war with Yahoo over 10 of the social network's patents, and the addition of an organ donor option on Facebook Timelines in an effort to locate donors for those in need.

As of March 31, 2012, Facebook had 901 million monthly active users.

Source: Yahoo News


Comments     Threshold


This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
100 Billion for what?
By MrBlastman on 5/2/2012 2:18:56 PM , Rating: 3
Geocities made easy? Please. Facebook's IPO is a sham.




RE: 100 Billion for what?
By idiot77 on 5/2/2012 2:35:13 PM , Rating: 1
Wow, I agree with you on something! Guess it's bound to happen.

This is a big cash out for a company that will prove to be a loser like MySpace.


RE: 100 Billion for what?
By Mike Acker on 5/3/2012 8:52:40 AM , Rating: 2
the thing that will kill f-book is the same thing that got AOL: an arrogant attempt to become the single provider.

but, look at things on the bright side: after fb takes over msft we can all switch and run UBUNTU. It's really pretty cool.


RE: 100 Billion for what?
By ritualm on 5/2/2012 2:54:42 PM , Rating: 1
The IPO is here probably because FB exceeded the maximum 500 employees limit for privately-held companies without stocks. Wouldn't surprise me if this IPO goes bust. NYT wrote this 3 months ago:

"But for all the promise of Facebook, the company is still trying to figure out how to properly extract and leverage data while keeping its ecosystem intact. For all its billions, Facebook makes a small sum on a per-user basis. Last year, it made a little more than $1 per user."

Ouch.


RE: 100 Billion for what?
By steven975 on 5/2/2012 3:44:27 PM , Rating: 2
And that's probably on an EBITDA basis, which for a company that does development and capital purchases, is basically earnings before cost.


RE: 100 Billion for what?
By idiot77 on 5/2/2012 3:51:37 PM , Rating: 1
In light of that, I'd pay $2 a year to them to keep my data private and not floating around in every damn app they try to get you to use.


RE: 100 Billion for what?
By StuckMojo on 5/2/2012 4:33:15 PM , Rating: 5
Wtf? What "500 employee limit"? Since when is there any law that forces you to go public? I call shens.


RE: 100 Billion for what?
By Denithor on 5/2/2012 5:27:18 PM , Rating: 2
Sarcasm sensor failure?


RE: 100 Billion for what?
By Pandamonium on 5/2/2012 8:14:14 PM , Rating: 2
It's a 500 investor clause that forces the IPO, if I'm not mistaken.


RE: 100 Billion for what?
By jtemplin on 5/2/2012 11:05:06 PM , Rating: 1
Don't be an idiot. I know nothing about IPOs...until 65 seconds ago when I googled it and learned that Facebook ALREADY has shareholders (somehow) AND there is a real limit. Some of them (the 500) are employees, some of them have something called restricted stock units which shouldn't count against the 500. Whatever, point is you are a lazy turd and please gtfo the internets if your going to write lazy, brain-dead comments that sow confusion and are tainted with ignorance.

Epic googling:
"The Exchange Act is a 1964 amendment to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that requires companies with over USD 10 million in assets and 500 shareholders [to go public]. Facebook has far more than USD 10 million in assets and exceeded the 500 shareholder limit last year."


RE: 100 Billion for what?
By JimboK29 on 5/3/2012 8:14:26 AM , Rating: 2
If you've been watching this story on Yahoo! Finance, CNBC, FT - investors are worried. Facebook is over-hyped and the growth is slowing. The next MYSPACE is about to begin. Whenever I hear the word facebook I just want to laugh.


RE: 100 Billion for what?
By ShaolinSoccer on 5/4/2012 3:20:33 PM , Rating: 2
With all the money they have made, they can't even make a proper Android app for phones or tablets... Their app is a JOKE!


"I'm an Internet expert too. It's all right to wire the industrial zone only, but there are many problems if other regions of the North are wired." -- North Korean Supreme Commander Kim Jong-il











botimage
Copyright 2013 DailyTech LLC. - RSS Feed | Advertise | About Us | Ethics | FAQ | Terms, Conditions & Privacy Information | Kristopher Kubicki