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One reason why I'm not buying Facebook: I don't have $2mil lying around. Another one; Why is Mark so reticent to IPO? Because he loses control? Or because th

by Swannie 16y ago

One reason why I'm not buying Facebook: I don't have $2mil lying around. Another one; Why is Mark so reticent to IPO? Because he loses control? Or because that means making the numbers public, and people will see just where the money is going. Either way, if the CEO doesn't want to go public and may be forced to, that is not good.

mjuhl24 16y ago
Not good for whom? Potential investors or Facebook (the company)? In any case, I think it will be quite interesting to see just how much revenue facebook is generating from it's various sources.
SteveC 16y ago
Bill Gates was another person who didn't want to do an IPO. He almost cancelled it a number of times during the process as he felt it would just be a distraction to actually getting real business done. Mark Zuckerberg could have similar concerns.
- Swannie 16y ago
  I didn't know that. It certainly sounds reasonable, but is that what happened at Microsoft, after their IPO?
gfodor 16y ago
He's said (maybe at Davos?) that the main reason is because Facebook has a lot of stuff they want to launch that is high risk and might not be acceptable to see come from a public company. (For example, could you imagine what would have happened the stock when Beacon came out?)
- jonknee 16y ago
  Well if he wants to pull more stunts like Beacon, being a public company may well be the best thing for Facebook.
sliverstorm 16y ago
He's only ever really had to answer to himself, right? From what I know of him, he probably likes that a lot more than having to answer to a bunch of shareholders.
- Swannie 16y ago
  Yeah, well, I for one hope they do have to publicise results, but they do NOT go for an IPO any time soon.
spc476 16y ago
One of the downsides of going public is that the customer base shifts---no longer are your customers the ones that buy/use your product, but your customers are the ones that buy your stock. And because of the legal requirement of increasing shareholder value, the company may be forced into short term profitability (make the numbers next quarter) instead of longer term long range profitability or stability.
cincinnatus 16y ago
It may simply be that he's heard from others who do run public companies how much it sucks. It dramatically changes how you run things, and you wouldn't want to be CEO of a public company. He knows that much at least. There may be other reasons as you say, certainly having to deal with the scrutiny would not be fun, no matter how above board you may be (or likely not).

by Swannie 16y ago

mjuhl24 16y ago

Not good for whom? Potential investors or Facebook (the company)? In any case, I think it will be quite interesting to see just how much revenue facebook is generating from it's various sources.

SteveC 16y ago

Bill Gates was another person who didn't want to do an IPO. He almost cancelled it a number of times during the process as he felt it would just be a distraction to actually getting real business done. Mark Zuckerberg could have similar concerns.

Swannie 16y ago
I didn't know that. It certainly sounds reasonable, but is that what happened at Microsoft, after their IPO?

gfodor 16y ago

He's said (maybe at Davos?) that the main reason is because Facebook has a lot of stuff they want to launch that is high risk and might not be acceptable to see come from a public company. (For example, could you imagine what would have happened the stock when Beacon came out?)

jonknee 16y ago
Well if he wants to pull more stunts like Beacon, being a public company may well be the best thing for Facebook.

sliverstorm 16y ago

He's only ever really had to answer to himself, right? From what I know of him, he probably likes that a lot more than having to answer to a bunch of shareholders.

Swannie 16y ago
Yeah, well, I for one hope they do have to publicise results, but they do NOT go for an IPO any time soon.

spc476 16y ago

One of the downsides of going public is that the customer base shifts---no longer are your customers the ones that buy/use your product, but your customers are the ones that buy your stock. And because of the legal requirement of increasing shareholder value, the company may be forced into short term profitability (make the numbers next quarter) instead of longer term long range profitability or stability.

cincinnatus 16y ago

It may simply be that he's heard from others who do run public companies how much it sucks. It dramatically changes how you run things, and you wouldn't want to be CEO of a public company. He knows that much at least. There may be other reasons as you say, certainly having to deal with the scrutiny would not be fun, no matter how above board you may be (or likely not).