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To be fair, he really had little choice.

• SatvikBeri 14y ago
  Exactly. Companies are legally required to go public if they have >500 shareholders, which Facebook has had for a while due to investors + stock options.
  • accountoftheday 14y ago
    Wrong. You can stay private with >500 shareholders, you just have reporting requirements matching those of a public company.
    • snowwrestler 14y ago
      It's the reporting requirements that create the risk of stifling bureaucracy. By listing on NASDAQ, Facebook at least gains some capital in return for this reporting.
    • SatvikBeri 14y ago
      You are correct. I should have been more precise: once a company has >500 shareholders, they the same reporting requirements as a public company. Since reporting is one of the biggest disadvantages to going public, this means that companies with >500 shareholders are very strongly incentivized to go public.