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Twitter goes global by putting its service on feature phones

Twitter has been pushing into the international market by making its service available on feature phones, according to Bloomberg.

The move comes as users in the U.S. are topping off and the microblogging service has to expand its boundaries in search of new members.

One of the ways Twitter is gaining new users is by partnering with wireless carriers in different countries that let people tweet on feature phones for free or for the cost of a text message. For example, the social network is now working with Turkish carrier Turkcell, according to Bloomberg. The partnership lets users tweet … Read more

Twitter's value may be higher than $11 billion, report says

There has always been a lot of speculation about what Twitter is really worth, and a new report suggests the site could currently be valued as higher than $11 billion as it prepares to go public next year.

Forbes reported today that financial researcher Greencrest is basing its rough valuation of $11 billion on trading in secondary markets and says part of the current higher value is due to speculation that Apple is interested in acquiring Twitter.

Even if there is no acquisition, Twitter's higher value still makes sense, Greencrest said, according to Forbes, "as growth in users … Read more

Morgan gets slap on wrist over botched Facebook IPO

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has fined Morgan Stanley $5 million over the botched Facebook initial public offering, according to terms of a consent order. In case you're wondering, that's about half the bonus of a starting secretary at the investment house. OK, we're exaggerating for effect, but this is the textbook definition of a slap on the wrist for Morgan, which last year posted $32.4 billion in revenue.

Morgan, the lead underwriter in Facebook's IPO this past spring, has faced criticism from Facebook shareholders who claimed that certain material information was concealed prior to the … Read more

Plaintiffs named in suit over Facebook's troubled IPO

A U.S. judge has named the lead plaintiffs in the dozens of class-action lawsuits brought against Facebook over its bungled initial public offering, according to Reuters.

District Judge Robert Sweet has been assigned 42 cases against the social network, which he consolidated in October. Today he picked a handful of plaintiffs to head the suits. The lead plaintiffs include several state pension funds, such as the North Carolina Retirement Systems, Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, the Fresno County Employees' Retirement Association, and Banyan Capital Master Fund. Collectively, this group claims a combined loss of $7.1 million.

"Its members … Read more

Lending Club plans IPO -- maybe within 18 months

PARIS -- Lending Club, a startup that connects people who want to borrow money with those who want to lend it, is profitable and plans to go public.

Chief Executive Renaud Laplanche discussed the initial public offering at the LeWeb conference here. "We're planning on going public in the next few years," he said in an on-stage interview, then confirmed he'd earlier said 18 months.

An IPO of course brings new funds, though Lending Club currently has $50 million in cash, but Laplanche said he wants to go public for the higher profile it brings. "… Read more

Facebook insiders could sell 773 million shares Wednesday

The largest set of Facebook stock shares available since May, when the company went public, could hit the market on Wednesday as the social network's employees are given the green light to sell off 773 million shares.

Wednesday marks the expiration of another "lockup" period, which means early investors and Facebook employees, including those who joined before 2011, will be able to sell off 773 million common shares, plus 31 million in restricted stock units.

The previous lockup expired at the end of October, and that fresh infusion of stock into the open market left the share … Read more

What Square's rise means for the startup ecosystem

Square is different than any other startup that has come before it, and its growing influence and size will inevitably lead to a change in the way entrepreneurs run their companies and venture capitalists invest.

There's no doubt that Square is on the rise, but it is set to accelerate its growth, thanks to a strategic investment from Starbucks that places Square's technology in front of millions of consumers. And thanks to Starbucks, Square's revenue and valuation are set to soar.

Perhaps this is why more pundits are calling Square "Silicon Valley's next great company,&… Read more

As Zynga falters, so does Facebook

Players are spending 20 percent less on Zynga games, which means Facebook is receiving less money from those games as well.

"Overall, gaming on Facebook isn't doing as well as I'd like," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during the company's third-quarter earnings conference call today. He said the rest of Facebook's gaming network has been growing -- monthly payments revenue from other games has increased by 40 percent since last year -- but Zynga's numbers have fallen.

Zynga's payment revenue has gone down 20 percent since last year's third-quarter earnings, Facebook'… Read more

SEC finds Facebook didn't hold back info from investors -- report

The Securities and Exchange Commission didn't find any evidence that Facebook withheld pertinent information from investors prior to its initial public offering, Bloomberg reported today.

The commission began investigating the social network's initial public offering, or IPO, in May, after Facebook's stock dropped. The stock still hasn't recovered from that day, and is currently trading at around half of its $38 IPO price.

While the investigation isn't over, the commission has determined that Facebook did not act wrongly, an unnamed source told Bloomberg. The SEC is still looking at whether or not retail investors lost … Read more