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What will Facebook's IPO filing reveal?

Despite running a site that promotes sharing and, at times, oversharing, Facebook and CEO Mark Zuckerberg have traditionally erred on the private side.

But that all ends once Facebook goes public. The social-networking titan is expected to file for its initial public offering as early as tomorrow.

The S-1 filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission typically gives outsiders their first chance to get an intimate look inside a company. With a potential valuation as high as $100 billion and a user base of 750 million people, the scrutiny over Facebook will be intense.

"Everyone is looking … Read more

Three reasons Facebook has to go public

Make no mistake: Mark Zuckerberg doesn't want to go public.

It's no secret that Zuckerberg has tried to keep Facebook private as long as possible, believing--rightly or wrongly--that that's the best way to stay nimble and build the business. But at this point, Zuck's got little choice. Facebook has become too big, it has too many shareholders, and so it's on track to go public this spring, eight years after Zuckerberg started Facebook in his Harvard dorm room.

A couple of months ago, the 27-year-old Zuckerberg assembled his top management team to talk about the … Read more

Three killer reasons Facebook's IPO could be worth $100 billion

On August 19, 2004, Google went public, selling $1.9 billion of stock, which placed the value of the company at $23 billion when trading started. (It's $187B currently.) Today, in 2012, we're talking about an imminent Facebook IPO, in which, it's predicted, Facebook will offer 10 percent of the company for $10 billion, placing the value of that enterprise at $100 billion.

Is Facebook really worth this much?

The economic answer is: if people buy the stock, then it is. But what will people be paying for? There are three big reasons that Facebook's IPO … Read more

Facebook could file IPO next week, aims for $100B valuation

Get ready for the hottest initial offering of 2012.

Facebook is set to file its IPO as early as Wednesday, seeking a valuation between $75 billion and $100 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources.

The company is reportedly seeking to raise as much as $10 billion. If successful, that would make Facebook's offering the sixth largest U.S. IPO and six times larger than Google's initial offering, which is currently the record-holding tech IPO, according to Renaissance Capital. (See chart below; click for a larger version.)

The Journal reported that Morgan Stanley is close … Read more