ITS GENERATION FACEBOOK, BYE BYE GENERATION MSFT
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Wow this nearly 50% of MSFT Market CAP!
Facebook Preps IPO Filing for
Next Week
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1.27.2012 by SHAYNDI
RAICE And RANDALL
SMITH for WSJ
Facebook Inc. could file papers for an initial public offering as early as
next week and is currently looking at a deal that would value the social network
between $75 billion to $100 billion, said people familiar with the matter.
Facebook could file IPO paperwork as early as Wednesday
of next week, and Morgan Stanley is close to winning the "lead left" position in
the IPO. Facebook has been valued between $75 and $100 Billion
dollars.
The Internet giant is close to picking Morgan Stanley as the
lead underwriter for its IPO, these people said, giving the investment bank one
of Wall Street's most coveted assignments. It would mark a setback for rival Goldman Sachs Group
Inc.
Facebook could file documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission as
early as this coming Wednesday, said one person familiar with the matter. But
that is just one scenario Facebook executives are considering, the person said.
Executives are also considering filing a few weeks later, the person said.
At a valuation between $75 billion and $100 billion, Facebook is looking to
raise as much as $10 billion, said people familiar with the matter. The final
valuation will be determined by a variety of factors, people familiar with the
matter cautioned, such as investor demand for social media, the IPO market and
the health of the European economy.
A $10 billion Facebook offering would rank fourth among U.S. companies,
behind Visa Inc., General Motors Co.
and AT&T Wireless. At a $100 billion valuation, Facebook would be worth
about the same as McDonald's Corp. and
nearly half of Google Inc.
Facebook's IPO has been hotly anticipated as a defining moment for the latest
Web investing boom. The site, which was started by Chief Executive Mark
Zuckerberg in 2004 out of his Harvard University dorm room, has reshaped how
people share information and interact with others on the Web.
In the process, Facebook has spawned new verbs such as "to friend" and a
popular Hollywood movie "The Social Network" that detailed the company's
origins. Overall, Facebook now counts 800 million users, with 500 million users
logging into the site daily.
The IPO will test Mr. Zuckerberg's ability to manage a global company whose
financial performance will be scrutinized every three months by investors.
Facebook also still faces questions about its commitment to its users' privacy,
an issue that had dogged it since its earliest days.
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