Facebook files $5 billion IPO, values the company at nearly $100 billion
The rumor, speculation and awkward Winklevii jokes can end (at least for now) as Facebook has officially filed for its public offering. Underwritten by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs amongst others, the internet's most popular site seeks to trade under the stock symbol "FB" when it goes public later this year. The company is seeking to raise $5 billion, according to this early filing, amounting to a lofty (and still tentative) valuation north of $50 billion. If that turns out to be accurate, though, Zuck will be one (especially) rich man: with a nearly thirty percent share in the company, his net worth would balloon to almost $30 billion.
The process of going public also provides a rare glimpse into internal stats previously kept private, with documents revealing the service has 845 million active users each month -- nearly half of which log in and actuate 2.7 billion likes and comments each day. The filing also sheds light on the company's balance sheet, with revenues of $777 million, $1.97 billion and $3.71 billion in 2009, 2010 and 2011, respectively. All told, it logged profits of $229 million and $606 million in those years -- earnings that were bested by the $1 billion it netted in 2011. The majority of its revenue comes from advertising, yet a sizable chunk (12 percent) of last year's figure comes courtesy of Zynga. All in all, that's enabled the company to stash away nearly $4 billion in cash -- a sizable nest egg for a company only eight years old. As for Zuck, his 2011 salary of $500,000 will be cut to $1 as of January 2013, but he'll be more than comfortable, thanks to that 28.4 percent stake in the company.
