Blackstone IPO Payouts Will Eclipse Google

Experts offer healthy dose of skepticism

(NEWSER) - After Facebook's IPO filing on Wednesday, analysts are abuzz over a suggested $75 billion to $100 billion valuation. If the social network is to live up to the hype, it'll have to be "the next Google—or better," experts tell MSNBC . Opinions from around the web:

• Sure, 845 million active monthly users and $3 billion in yearly revenue is nothing to sniff at. But a $75 billion valuation would make Facebook worth 40% of Google, whose profits are 11 times the social network's—whose growth may already be slowing, MSNBC notes.

Company's ticker symbol will be FB

(NEWSER) - Mark Zuckerberg's little startup filed papers with the SEC today to become a publicly traded company. Some of the Facebook particulars:

• The company says it plans to raise $5 billion, but that figure is expected to rise to perhaps $10 billion by the time the big day arrives in the spring. (The AP thinks the stock will debut in May.)
• The Wall Street Journal pegs the company's potential value at between $75 billion and $100 billion.
• The ticker symbol will be FB, though the filing didn't specify which exchange would be used for trading, notes MarketWatch .
• The company reported $3.7 billion in revenue in 2011, up from about $2 billion in 2010. Analysts expected $4.3 billion, says the Journal.

Filing 'an American milestone'

(NEWSER) - The company Mark Zuckerberg founded in his dorm room eight years ago is expected to file for Silicon Valley's biggest-ever initial public offering today. The Facebook IPO will aim to raise $5 billion, and will value the company at between $75 billion and $100 billion, insiders tell Reuters . The filing paves the way for the stock to start trading in May, and many observers expect a twist, possibly involving a way in for Facebook's 800 million users. "Pandemonium is what I expect in terms of demand for this stock," an IPO expert tells AP . "I don't think Wall Street would want to anger Facebook users." More»

Sources say Morgan Stanley is close to landing the deal

(NEWSER) - Sources tell the Wall Street Journal that Facebook could file papers for its IPO as early as Wednesday, and that Morgan Stanley will likely be chosen as the lead underwriter. The company is looking at a valuation between $75 billion and $100 billion; people have said earlier that the IPO could raise up to $10 billion. Goldman Sachs will also likely play a big role. More»

If sources are right, documents will be filed in matter of weeks

(NEWSER) - Facebook plans to hold its long-rumored, long-wished-for IPO the third week of May, sources tell Kara Swisher of All Things Digital . That would mean documents would have to be filed in a matter of weeks, since the SEC generally takes three to four months to evaluate them. Swisher is pretty confident in the scoop—"I called 143 people on this one," she brags—but warns that IPO planning can always "change, in a New York minute, to another month." More»