Facebook Slow To Consider Going Public
March 5th, 2010 by Matthew C. Keegan | 2 Comments | Filed in NewsFacebook continues to grow at a meteoric pace with some 400 million people registered with the world’s most popular social networking site. But what Facebook isn’t rushing to do is undertake its eventual transition from a private to a public company. Its 25-year-old chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, remains steadfast in his stance that a slow approach is in his company’s best interests.
Going Public
In the Mar. 4, 2010 issue of “The Wall Street Journal,” Zuckerberg was reported to say, “we’re going to go public eventually, because that’s the contract that we have with our investors and our employees. We are definitely in no rush.”
When Facebook goes public it could spark a revival in the IPO market for Silicon Valley firms. That market has been relatively quiet over the past few years as a stiff economic downturn and lack of available product has tempered the market.
Facebook Valuation
Still, when Facebook does go public its ultimate valuation could shake the market. As recently as January, Facebook’s estimated valuation was pegged at $14 billion though some have speculated its ultimate worth as being far greater than that amount.
Zuckerberg noted that Facebook doesn’t need the capitalization an IPO would bring at least not yet. The company routinely plans and reviews various new offerings and extensions of its service, but it isn’t in the position to have to choose to do anything because of shareholder pressure.
Zuckerberg seems happy with the delaying the inevitable, perhaps realizing that when change does come it will forever alter his influence with a company he started in a Harvard dorm in 2004.
Virus Laden?
With its unheard of growth, Facebook users have faced numerous problems particularly when it comes to viruses, worms, trojans and other nasty surprises. Applications accessed through Facebook itself are usually safe, but users often mistakenly look around the internet for downloads learning later on that their computers have been infected, sometimes infecting other Facebook users in the process.
In an article appearing on the instructional eHow.com website, computer pro JE Meyer offered tips on “How To Kill A Facebook Bot,” outlining steps every computer user who frequents Facebook should take. That approach includes downloading and using a three product cocktail: Malwarebytes, SuperAntiSpyware, and Avast to knock viruses, worms, trojans, key loggers and other pests from their systems.
Problems or not, Facebook is changing the way that we communicate. Lots of people have given up their blogs and no longer use email, preferring to conduct most of their online activity via Facebook. In effect, Facebook is their computer access, bypassing mostly everything else including Google Search.
Tags: Facebook, Google, Harvard, IPO, Mark Zuckerberg, social networking, The Wall Street Journal

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