Facebook Doubling Revenue While Delaying IPO
A Wall Street Journal article from yesterday has generated some buzz as it includes a number of interesting details about Facebook’s revenue among other things. The most interesting piece of information was that Facebook’s revenue could be between $1.2 and $2 billion this year. The article primarily centered around Mark Zuckerberg’s continued desire to delay any public offering.
One interesting strategy that companies like Zynga have decided to follow, is the issuance of restricted-stock units (RSUs) which enable the company to stay under the 500 shareholder threshold for private companies. While last year’s revenue have become part of a post-speculation game, estimates range from $650 to $750 million for the year.
Next year, those numbers could potentially double, along with the site’s user base which is racing toward 1 billion users. While this year or next, Facebook could potentially reach Google-size, the company tries to avoid any comparison. Instead, Facebook is focusing on new products, including location tracking, a feature that the article suggested was currently being tested internally.
Also of interest is that Mark Zuckerberg “readily abandons concepts a year or more in the making.” So perhaps that’s what happened to the Facebook Video Chat product we wrote about last year! Ultimately, a number of interesting tidbits were scattered throughout the story, however it was more about exploring Mark Zuckerberg’s ability to serve as an executive.
According to the WSJ, Zuckerberg likes to micromanage, focuses on long-term goals, quotes popular movies to motivate employees, and has dropped the post-meeting domination fist pump.
