Essentially, Zuckerberg was forced to IPO. There were too many people who had been granted shares privately, and there is some sort of law that when >500 peopl

Essentially, Zuckerberg was forced to IPO. There were too many people who had been granted shares privately, and there is some sort of law that when >500 people have shares it has to be public (IANAL)? Anyway, he showed up to the meeting with bankers wearing a hoody, and generally acted as if he didn't care what the investors thought, because FB was profitable and he didn't need their money. They grumbled a lot, but bought into the IPO anyway. Since Zuckerberg didn't particularly want to IPO anyway, he could make up any rules he felt like (that weren't actually illegal). Then the shares had been priced so high that ordinary purchasers got a better price a couple months after the IPO, than high-powered financial types got in the IPO itself. Financial types hate it when they do not get a better price than the ordinary investor. I'm not particularly a fan of FB or MZ, but I do have to admit to admiring his behavior during that whole episode.