There are as many articles on the Web about Facebook’s initial public offering as there are shares being sold.
There’s only one piece of news that really matters: Facebook, Inc. is now a publicly traded company.
The company (or “FB” as its Nasdaq ticker symbol reads) sold 421.2 million shares to investors at $38 each. Some quick finger counting (or Bloomberg research) reveals Facebook raised $16 billion through the sale. That’s likely to jump to $18.4 billion through additional share sales, or the over-allotment option, later this month.
Before the markets opened Friday morning, Facebook was valued at $104.2 billion, the largest-ever valuation for a new public company in the U.S. That figure will likely fluctuate wildly over the day as the share price bobs and weaves.
The opening bell was struck by Facebook cofounder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg at 9.30 am ET (albeit remotely from Facebook’s California HQ). However, shares aren’t expected to start trading until 11 am, partly to help Wall Street get ready for a slew of purchase orders.
Meanwhile, Facebook sent a big message to its new corporate bedfellows Thursday, the night before one of the most important days in the company’s history: It held one of its famed hackathons.
The message, albeit unspoken, was pretty clear: despite Facebook’s financial status update, the company’s culture hasn’t changed.
The Daily Dot will keep you up to date on IPO news throughout the day and will let you know if any more analysts offer fashion advice to Zuckerberg.
Photo by Matt Harnack / Facebook