Facebook IPO: The Complete Guide. Facebook took social media by storm on Wednesday after the company filed the preliminary prospectus for its long-awaited initial public offering. The company is seeking to raise $5 billion. SEE ALSO: Facebook IPO: Reactions from the Social Web (and Zuckerberg) Still not sure what all of this means? If you haven't already had a chance to read the document, we've embedded it below. For a breakdown on everything you need to know about Facebook's IPO, read further.
Facebook S 1 Inside Look Within the document, some huge numbers about the company were revealed — from 845 million active users, to 2.7 billion daily likes and comments. After initial news of the filing broke, a more extensive look at the document reveals hard evidence of the company's business, growth, competition and a bit about what's in store for the future. Salary Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg pulled in a base salary of almost $500,000, and COO Sheryl Sandberg and CFO David Ebersman both made $300,000 each. Risk Factors. Facebook May Be More Expensive Than Google. Facebook Inc. may command a valuation more than five times higher than Google (GOOG) Inc. as it seeks to raise $5 billion in the world’s largest initial public offering of an Internet company.
The social-networking company, which filed for the IPO yesterday, may be valued at as much as $100 billion in the sale, two people with knowledge of the matter said last week. At that level, the company would trade at 26.9 times 2011 sales, compared with about 5 times for search-engine operator Google, whose market value has jumped eight-fold since its IPO. “Google was an awesome IPO,” and its success since is the reason Facebook can come out at such a high valuation, said Tim Cunningham, who helps oversee about $75 billion at Thornburg Investment Management Inc. in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
“That hope and potential is exactly why it’s potentially a $100 billion deal.” The Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto. Close The Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto. Close Open Photographer: Jonathan Sprague/Redux. Well, Now We Know What Facebook's Worth—And It's Not $100 Billion. Who Killed the Facebook Skeptics? Google | Daniel Gross. The filing of the Facebook Prospectus has been greeted with the equivalent of the Hallelujah chorus of Handel's Messiah — all soaring trumpet, harmonious voices and thundering D-Major chords. A great rejoicing among analysts, investors and journalists.
Unto us a highly profitable company with killer margins, global reach and great potential is born. A $100 billion baby. It's the Zuck-potheosis. The reaction leaves me a little cold. Google killed them. Let me explain. There are a few reasons to be skeptical of the Facebook offering. Second, Facebook is an enormously successful company. Third, I still find the business a little problematic. So how did Google mute the Facebook skeptics? Muscle memory is a powerful force in finance and opinion. While there were plenty of Google boosters, there was also plenty of skepticism. Of course, in the years since the offering, Google has defied the skeptics and the short-sellers.