Zuckerberg mum on funding, ad network rumors
It's been a big week for Mark Zuckerberg.
First of all, the young Facebook founder and CEO finally turned 25. That was last Thursday. But more importantly for the tech rumor mill, he's had to deal with a fresh flurry of speculation: did the company really turn down a $200 million funding round at an $8 billion valuation? Has it raised $150 million specifically so that employees can cash out their stock?
Needless to say, in Zuckerberg's interview Tuesday at the Reuters Global Technology Summit, he didn't answer any of those questions concretely. His response to the notion of more capital was, in short, that Facebook doesn't need it but that doesn't mean they won't raise it.
"If there's an investment to be done on very good terms, we will consider it if for no other reason than to have more buffer if we want to do something in the future," Reuters quoted Zuckerberg as saying. "Some of the rumblings that people are reporting on, are just different conversations that have happened, but there's really nothing new to talk about there."
He did say that it'll be "a few years" before the company chooses to go public.
There have been rumors that Facebook will launch an ad network for the developers using Facebook Platform and Facebook Connect. Zuckerberg offered the company's version of a neither-confirm-nor-deny answer when asked about this, saying (per Reuters) that "it could be a pretty natural extension for us to do something with ads or a number of other things that we've considered." Somebody's been well trained in the vague language department.
Only 25 years old, and he's already mastered that complicated Jedi trick known as the non-answer. Impressive!
Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos. E-mail Caroline. 
