NEW YORK — Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg turns up at business conventions in a hoodie. “Cocky” is the word used to describe him most often, after “billionaire.” He was Time’s Person of the Year at 26.
So when he takes Facebook public, why would he follow the Wall Street rules?
The company is expected to file as early as today to sell stock on the open market in what will be one of the most talked-about initial public offerings.
Around the nation, regular investors and IPO-watchers are anticipating some kind of twist — perhaps a provision for the 800 million users of Facebook, a company that promotes itself as all about personal connections, to get in on the action.
“Pandemonium is what I expect in terms of demand for this stock,” says Scott Sweet, senior managing partner at IPO Boutique, an advisory firm. “I don’t think Wall Street would want to anger Facebook users.”
The most successful young technology companies have a history of doing things differently. Google’s IPO prospectus contained a letter to investors that said the company believed in the motto “Don’t be evil.”
Facebook declined to comment, but Reena Aggarwal, a finance professor who has studied IPOs at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, says Zuckerberg will emulate Google’s philosophy.
Facebook is expected to raise as much as $10 billion, which will value the company at $75 billion to $100 billion, making it one of the largest IPOs. A stock usually starts trading three to four months after the filing.
IPO-watchers wonder whether there might be a provision specifically designed to give the little-guy investor, even the casual Facebook user who doesn’t invest, a piece of the debut.
“There is a feeling that there will be something unique in store for Facebook users,” Aggarwal says.
