investors

Andreessen Horowitz, the famed venture-capital firm run by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, is not selling the Facebook shares it acquired through direct investment.

Reports surfaced yesterday saying that Andreessen Horowitz, one of the earliest and biggest investors in Facebook, was offloading some shares it directly acquired through investment in the social network following a mandatory lockup period. However, a Securities and Exchange Commission filing has revealed that only Marc Andreessen himself has personally offloaded some shares. According to TechCrunch, which was first to report on the news, a spokesperson from Andreessen's firm said that the sales will only … Read more

Facebook investors finally have something to celebrate.

The social network's shares have soared in early trading today, jumping 23 percent to nearly $24. Facebook closed the day yesterday at $19.50.

For a stock that has slid and slid since IPO day in May, the jump marks the biggest single-day gain yet for Facebook.

Investors are responding favorably to Facebook's better-than-expected third-quarter earnings report that came out yesterday. The company revealed that its adjusted earnings per share hit 12 cents during the period that ended September 30, beating analyst estimates by a penny. Facebook's revenue rose 32 … Read more

Facebook's wishes have been granted, at least for now. The dozens of lawsuits brought against the social network over its bungled initial public offering have been consolidated and will be heard before one federal judge in New York, according to Reuters.

Approximately 50 lawsuits have been brought against the social network, some of its underwriters, and the Nasdaq exchange. Earlier today, a panel of federal judges ruled that all of these cases will be collected throughout the U.S. and transferred to U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet in Manhattan.

According to Reuters, Facebook said that it was pleased … Read more

Facebook is expected to make its first public response as early as tomorrow to the wave of investor lawsuits regarding the company's lackluster IPO.

The social-networking giant is planning to file a motion to consolidate all the shareholder lawsuits pending against it, providing inside perspective on the role that the Nasdaq stock exchange's performance had on the stock's trading activity, a personal familiar with the matter told The New York Times. The IPO's lead underwriters -- Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase -- are also expected to join the motion, the paper reported.

Facebook representatives … Read more

Intel has a message for investors and the rest of the tech industry: We're dead serious about smartphone chips now. (Finally, wags might add.)

At its annual investor day on Thursday, Intel reiterated that its first dual-core smartphone processor, the "Medfield" Z2580, is coming later this year and will be offered with Intel-branded 4G LTE silicon.

And to drive home its commitment to phones, CEO Paul Otellini said that phone chip development will move ahead at "twice the rate of Moore's Law." Put another way, chip development that would ordinarily take six years will … Read more

Facebook's recent IPO filing and upcoming debut on the Nasdaq may be eliciting speculation of weak demand, but some sources say the social network is doing just fine in rounding up investors.

According to Reuters, which spoke to sources familiar with the share listing, Facebook's IPO is "already oversubscribed." The news source reported that institutional investors have currently "indicated demand for more shares than Facebook has available."

But it hasn't been so rosy up til now. Just yesterday, news broke that the social network amended its S-1 filing with the SEC to emphasize … Read more

Facebook is about to create a handful of liquid billionaires and millionaires.

Mark Zuckerberg and investors in Facebook plan to sell up to $5.5 billion in stock when the social-networking giant goes public in a few weeks, according to an SEC filing today. Combined, the executives and investors are expected to sell 157.4 million shares for as much as $35 each.

Zuckerberg is expected to sell 30.2 million of his 533.8 million shares, netting him about $1.1 billion, most of which will go toward paying taxes for exercising stock options. Venture capitalist and Facebook board … Read more

Embroiled in shareholder lawsuits, its stock plunging, and still headed by a CEO criticized as unpredictable, Groupon has found things a bit hectic recently. Which may explain a minor board shakeup that looks a lot like an attempt to put some grownups in control of things.

Financial veterans American Express CFO Daniel Henry and Deloitte vice chairman Robert Bass are to join Groupon's board.

"With their deep financial, accounting, and operational experience, Dan and Bob will provide invaluable expertise to the Board going forward," Groupon Chairman Eric Lefkofsky said in a statement.

Henry joined the board April … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--An article last fall suggesting investment was getting scarce for early stage startups stirred a major commotion in Silicon Valley. But one of the Valley's most prolific investors said tonight that the real issue is there are simply too many companies getting seed funding.

At the inaugural CNET Community Series event here this evening, Naval Ravikant, the founder and CEO of AngelList, rejected the notion that there is a so-called Series A crunch, saying instead that there is a "seed glut."

During the panel on "Startup Funding: Strategies and Opportunities" hosted by CNET's … Read more