Facebook files for IPO; plans to raise $5B

By Martin Wolk

UPDATED AT 5:28 p.m. ET

Facebook, the social media giant that is a dominant force?on the Internet,?filed papers Wednesday to raise?$5 billion in the most highly anticipated?initial public offering of stock in years.

Facebook said it will apply to have its shares listed with the symbol "FB," suggesting it will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, since Nasdaq uses four-letter stock symbols.

The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company?said it had revenue of $3.7 billion last year, up from $1.97 billion in 2010, as it detailed its finances publicly for the first time in an S-1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Facebook reported net income of $1 billion on the dot last year, up from $606 million the year before.

Facebook's billionaire chairman Mark Zuckerberg, 27, made $1.5 million in compensation last year, including more than $700,000 in salary and bonus. But chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg got more than $30 million in compensation, almost all of it in stock, according to estimates provided in the filing.

Zuckerberg did not get additional stock grants last year, and his $500,000 in base salary will go to a nominal $1 a year at his request effective in 2013, Facebook said in the filing.

The filing did not put an overall value on the company.

In a letter included in the filing, Zuckerberg said Facebook was more interested in what he called the company's "social mission," rather than just making money.

"Most great people care primarily about building and being a part of great things, but they also want to make money, " Zuckerberg said. "Through the process of building a team ? and also building a developer community, advertising market and investor base ? I?ve developed a deep appreciation for how building a strong company with a strong economic engine and strong growth can be the best way to align many people to solve important problems.

"Simply put: We don?t build services to make money; we make money to build better services."?

Morgan Stanley was listed as the lead underwriter, with J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs also getting top billing on the prospectus.?

What do you think of the IPO? Share your thoughts (where else?) on Facebook.?

More details to follow ...?

Debra Borchardt, The Street, and Fred Lane, Raymond James Financial, discuss what they expect to see in a Facebook IPO filing today and whether its valuation is justified.

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/01/10292184-facebook-files-for-ipo

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