Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg
Social networking giant Facebook is preparing to issue its first public stock offering in Q2 of 2012, which could raise up to US$10bn, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The US$10bn figure is based on a US$100m valuation of the company, which is based in Palo Alto, California.
The Wall Street Journal cited unnamed sources “familiar with the matter” and reported that it is unknown just when Facebook’s IPO would come in the second quarter.
Facebook, which has seen massive growth since launching seven years ago – the site now has more than 800m members worldwide – is expected to pass the 500-shareholder mark by the end of this year. That would force it to file finanical data with the Securities and Exchange Commission, even if the company chooses not to raise US$10bn in IPO.
Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed earlier this month that the company was planning an IPO, but just hadn’t yet decided when.
