Facebook Passes eBay in Value

It's now the web's third most valuable company
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 15, 2010 8:20 AM CST
Facebook Passes eBay in Value
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, center, smiles with unidentified co-workers at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2010.   (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Facebook’s estimated market value has shot past eBay’s, making it the third most valuable web company. Shares of the privately held company are now trading at more than $16 on SecondMarket, sources tell Bloomberg, which would make the overall company worth $41 billion—behind only Amazon ($74.4 billion) and the big kid on the block, Google ($192.2 billion).

SecondMarket doesn’t publicly release trading data, but Bloomberg’s source said Facebook’s price has tripled over the past year. Another private exchange estimates Facebook’s value at $40.9 billion, and says it’s shot up nearly 50% in the past month alone. Those valuations might change drastically on the open market, however. “It could be a bargain at $41 billion,” says one IPO consultant. Then again, Facebook doesn’t disclose financial information, and a spokesman cautioned that all external value estimates are “fundamentally speculative.” (More Facebook stories.)

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