Facebook may go public by 2012

Social networking juggernaut Facebook may go public in 2012 at a valuation likely to exceed $100 billion, as the number of its investors is likely to breach the 500 mark this year. A report on CNBC quoted people "familiar" with the matter as saying the initial public offering would stem from the 1934 Securities and Exchange Act's "500 Rule." The rule requires a private company that has more than 500 investors to release quarterly financial information to the SEC just as public companies do, the report said. A Facebook spokesman declined to comment on the timing or details of an IPO as of Monday (Tuesday in the Philippines). However, Facebook operating officer Sheryl Sandberg was quoted as saying that an IPO is “inevitable," describing it as “the next thing that happens". The report also cited Facebook's desire to increase employee compensation. If Facebook were to go public, employees would be able to sell their stock on the open market at various times during the year. A separate report on Mashable said that Facebook’s impending IPO at $100 billion would be one of the largest in history, quadrupling Google’s $23 billion IPO in 2004. Mashable added that Facebook would have been be required to publicly report its financial information in May 2012, regardless of whether it is a private or public company. The report also said that Goldman Sachs is in a prime position to underwrite the IPO, due to its $450-million investment in Facebook earlier this year. — TJD, GMA News