TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      MTN receives $35-million offer for Afghanistan unit

      11 August 2022

      MTN South Africa weathers load shedding storm

      11 August 2022

      African unicorn Flutterwave battles fires on multiple fronts

      11 August 2022

      Willington Ngwepe to step down as Icasa CEO

      10 August 2022

      Samsung unveils its latest foldable smartphones

      10 August 2022
    • World

      Gaming industry’s fortunes fade as pandemic ends

      11 August 2022

      Disney tops Netflix in streaming subscribers

      11 August 2022

      Jumia says it’s past peak losses, shares jump

      10 August 2022

      Elon Musk sells $6.9-billion of Tesla to avoid Twitter fire sale

      10 August 2022

      Nvidia issues profit warning on slump in demand for graphics cards

      8 August 2022
    • In-depth

      The length of Earth’s days has been increasing – and no one knows why

      7 August 2022

      As Facebook fades, the Mad Men of advertising stage a comeback

      2 August 2022

      Crypto breaks the rules. That’s the point

      27 July 2022

      E-mail scams are getting chillingly personal

      17 July 2022

      Webb telescope’s stunning images of the cosmos

      12 July 2022
    • Podcasts

      e4’s Adri Führi on encouraging more women into tech careers

      10 August 2022

      How South Africa can woo more women into tech

      4 August 2022

      Book and check-in via WhatsApp? FlySafair is on it

      28 July 2022

      Interview: Why Dell’s next-gen PowerEdge servers change the game

      28 July 2022

      Demystifying the complexity of AI – fact vs fiction

      6 July 2022
    • Opinion

      SIU seeks to set aside R215-million IT tender

      19 July 2022

      No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

      11 July 2022

      Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

      8 July 2022

      South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

      4 July 2022

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»World»Facebook mints new billionaires

    Facebook mints new billionaires

    World By Editor18 May 2012
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email

    On Friday, social network Facebook will list on Wall Street in the third largest initial public offering (IPO) in US history and the largest in the technology sector. The initial share price is set at US$38 and, with 421m shares being listed, the move will make Facebook’s key investors instant billionaires.

    At that price, the IPO will raise about $16bn. The first shares made their way to hedge funds and other sizeable investors on Thursday evening and will be tradable publicly later on Friday. The market will open at 09.30am New York time (3.30pm SA time), but shares will only start being traded an hour or so later.

    Facebook’s market capitalisation will be in the region of $80bn, or more than $100bn if one considers the unexercised stock options a number of the company’s employees hold. Pundits are divided on whether the stock will spike, plummet or hold steady after trading begins, with some warning the company is grossly overvalued and indicative of a bubble of the sort seen at the beginning of the last decade.

    Others predict it will hold its ground based on Facebook’s recent additions to its mobile platform and its aggressive acquisition of start-ups Instagram and Glancee that are indicative of it addressing the most glaring gap in its portfolio: the fact that it doesn’t make money from mobile phones.

    Although CEO Mark Zuckerberg is set for the largest single windfall, other Facebook executives and former executives are also about to leap onto lists of the world’s wealthiest people. They include chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, who moved to the company from Google in 2008; early investor and Napster founder Sean Parker; and co-founders Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes and Eduardo Saverin, none of whom is still with the company.

    Instagram founder Kevin Systrom is also set to benefit. He recently sold the photo-sharing start-up to Facebook for $1bn in cash and stock that included 23m Facebook shares now worth $874m. In addition to the $300m in cash, that means the Instagram deal was really worth closer to $1,2bn.

    Even Microsoft is set to reap the benefits of the listing having acquired 1,6% equity stake in the social media company for $240m in 2007. Microsoft’s 33m shares give it a stake worth over $1,2bn – a tidy return on investment by anyone’s measure.  — (c) 2012 NewsCentral Media

    Chris Hughes Dustin Moskovitz Eduardo Saverin Facebook Glancee Google Kevin Systrom Mark Zuckerberg Microsoft Napster Sean Parker Sheryl Sandberg
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleSmaller players back call for MTR cut
    Next Article City Internet domains coming to SA

    Related Posts

    Gaming industry’s fortunes fade as pandemic ends

    11 August 2022

    Disney tops Netflix in streaming subscribers

    11 August 2022

    Jumia says it’s past peak losses, shares jump

    10 August 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    How secure is your cloud?

    10 August 2022

    5 ways to make attack-path management more manageable

    10 August 2022

    Smart homes need even smarter Wi-Fi

    10 August 2022
    Opinion

    SIU seeks to set aside R215-million IT tender

    19 July 2022

    No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

    11 July 2022

    Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

    8 July 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.