Facebook IPO means billions for Mark Zuckerberg

Facebook is going public on Friday, with an IPO that’s expected to raise more than $18 billion for Facebook, mint 500 to 1,000 new millionaires and make Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, now just 28, a multi-billionaire. Facebook after the IPO is expected to be more valuable than McDonald’s in an IPO that could generate more than 10 times the $1.67 billion Google raised with its IPO in 2004. Anywhere from 500 to 1,000 Facebook employees and shareholders will become millionaires. What would you do with that kind of money? Our roving reporters asked that question to people in New York City’s Times Square. If you had as much money as Mark Zuckerberg will have on…

Facebook Class B shares explained

Facebook kicks off its roadshow Monday for the company’s initial public offering, which is expected to raise US$5 billion for the company. Facebook, which trade under will trade under the ticker “FB, will have two share classes: Class A and Class B. Class A shares will be sold to the public and traded on the Nasdaq. Class B shares will be privately held by Facebook insiders, principally Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg’s B shares will carry 10 times the voting weight of class A shares. So while he owns just 28% of the company, Zuckerberg will control 57% of the voting rights. As such, the majority owners of Facebook will have little sway over the direction of…

Facebook snaps up Instagram for $1 billion

Facebook has announced it will pay $1 billion in cash and stock to acquire photo-sharing app Instagram. The deal will make founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger and the other approximately 12 staff at Instagram instant millionaires (at least in Mark Zuckerberg funny money). Industry watchers have said the move will help Facebook in an area it has traditionally struggled in — photo editing. Others have questioned the logic of paying so much for a company with no revenue stream and no obvious business plan. The acquisition comes just a week after Instagram secured $50 million in funding from investors including Sequoia Capital that valued Instagram at $500 million. Instagram recently became available on Android…

Google ‘thwarts’ Internet Explorer privacy settings

Microsoft is alleging that Google has been sidestepping Internet Explorer privacy controls designed to prevent third-party websites from tracking users’ browsing habits. Writing on a company blog on Monday, Dean Hachamovitch, Microsoft corporate vice president in charge of the software maker’s Internet Explorer web browser, claimed Google exploited a loophole in the Platform for Privacy Preferences, or P3P. It’s a protocol used by Internet Explorer that asks a website for its privacy policy, which is provided in a coded form understood by the web browser. Sites that have a policy of tracking visitors, done by way of small files called “cookies” installed on users’ computers, are blocked from doing so. In order to fool the…

Was gun-toting dad’s Facebook rant justified?

When Tommy Jordan posted a YouTube video of him shooting up his daughter Hannah’s laptop with a .45 after she criticized her parents on Facebook, he had no idea it would go viral and spark a worldwide debate about tough-love and parenting. Tommy Jordan’s YouTube video Facebook Parenting: For the troubled teen had more than 22 million hits on Tuesday. It was posted last Wednesday and had already racked up 2 million views by Friday. In the video, Tommy Jordan sits in a chair holding a cigarette and a printout of his daughter’s Facebook message with a gun holstered by his hip. “Hannah, you were grounded for three months for doing something similar to this…

Facebook artist David Choe endures New York media

David Choe — the graffiti artist who stands to make more than US$200 million from the Facebook IPO after choosing stock options over cash when asked to paint a mural in the company’s first offices — was in New York City this week to meet with the media. He sat down with such heavyweights as Howard Stern, Barbara Walters on ABC’s Nightline — and of course … Next Media Animation. Choe quickly became disillusioned by the mainstream press, passing up offers to speak with the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. He instead chose to meet exclusively with staff at NMA’s New York office. Not trusting anyone else to tell his story, David collaborated…

Facebook IPO: is Facebook overvalued?

Facebook plans to raise US$5 billion in an IPO that could value the company at US$100 billion. The eight-year-old company founded by Mark Zuckerberg could raise as much as US$10 billion with follow-on offerings. A market cap of US$100 billion would make Facebook one of the most valuable companies in the world, on par with McDonald’s, and make founder Mark Zuckerberg a cool US$28 billion. The company sells highly targeted ads based on user-provided information. This helped Facebook earn US$1 billion last year on US$3.7 billion in revenue. By comparison, Google pulled in US$38 billion in sales and US$10 billion in earnings. But on a price-to-sales basis, the market thinks Facebook is worth more. Does…

Google’s new search feature is bad for you

Last week, Google launched a new feature called Search, Plus Your World. When you’re signed into your Google account and perform a Google search, the results will return photos, videos and other content from Google services. Basically, Google is attempting to expand its online dominance. Comparisons are being made to what Microsoft did that resulted in an anti-trust case in 1998.