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The social networking company Facebook held its initial public offering (IPO) on Friday, May 18, 2012. The IPO was the biggest in technology and one of the biggest in Internet history, with a peak market capitalization of over $104 billion. Media pundits called it a "cultural touchstone."〔Warren Olney, "(Facebook IPO: A Touchstone Cultural Moment for America? )", KCRW.com, May 17, 2012〕 ==Context== For years, Facebook and Zuckerberg resisted both buyouts and taking the company public. The main reason that the company decided to go public is because it crossed the threshold of 500 shareholders, according to Reuters financial blogger Felix Salmon.〔Felix Salmon, "(Facebook: The smart money exits )," Reuters, May 16, 2012. Salmon writes that the reason it had more than 500 shareholders is because "early investors, including Accel and DST, have been selling down their stakes in private markets for some years now."〕 Facebook reportedly turned down a $75 million offer from Viacom in 2006.〔WebPorNews Staff, (Facebook Sees $25M From Greylock ), April 19, 2006〕 That same year, Yahoo! attempted to buy the company for $1 billion but Zuckerberg refused.〔 Also that year, ''BusinessWeek'' reported a $2 billion valuation for the company.〔 Steve Rosenbush and Timothy J. Mullaney, (Social Networking's Gold Rush ), April 18, 2006〕 Facebook did accept investments from companies, and these investments suggested fluctuating valuations for the firm. In 2007 Microsoft beat out Google to purchase a 1.6% stake for $240 million, giving Facebook a notional value of $15 billion at the time.〔Associated Press, (Microsoft invests $240 million in Facebook ), 10/24/2007〕 Microsoft did purchase preferred stock, which meant that the company's actual valuation would be considerably lower than $15 billion.〔 Ina Fried , (Microsoft and Facebook: The $240 million poke ), October 24, 2007〕 Meanwhile, that valuation dropped to $10 billion in 2009, when Digital Sky Technologies bought a nearly 2% stake for $200 million〔Ina Fried, (Facebook investment puts spotlight on Microsoft stake ), May 26, 2009〕 - a larger stake than Microsoft had purchased at a lower price. An investment reported in 2011 valued the company at $50 billion.〔SUSANNE CRAIG AND ANDREW ROSS SORKIN, (Goldman Offering Clients a Chance to Invest in Facebook ), JANUARY 2, 2011〕 Zuckerberg wanted to wait to conduct an initial public offering, saying in 2010 that "we are definitely in no rush." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Initial public offering of Facebook」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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