About a week ago, Facebook filed it’s IPO plans with the Securities and Exchange Commission and investors are waiting like shoppers lined up outside BestBuy on Black Friday. There have been, of course, all sorts of debates over what this will mean to new shareholders, Facebook users and to the company itself. There is also widely disparate opinion as to the value of the company. This much is certain – a good number of people will become very, very rich.
Working with a median value for the company of around $75 billion, and share prices in the $30 to $40 range, here are some examples of how some lives will be changed. The 3,000 employees of Facebook are going to become millionaires, and Silicon Valley realtors are beside themselves, imagining their commissions on home sales. Founder Mark Zuckerberg owns 533.8 million shares and could very well realize a personal worth of $28 billion. Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg, holds 1.8 million shares. Add in her salary and benefits package, and she could be worth about $2 billion. That would put her in position to be one of the wealthiest self-made women in the world.
Co-founder Dustin Moskovitz is the owner of 134 million shares and, according to the financial wizards, he could end up with around $7.7 billion. David Choe, a graffiti artist, painted some murals for the headquarters of Facebook. Part of his commission was paid for in an undisclosed number of shares. It has been rumored that he will stand to gain between $200 and $300 million. That’s a lot of cans of spray paint. Last, but not least, we have the famous Winklevoss twins who sued Zuckerberg over the original creation of Facebook. Again, their settlement included shares and they will, more than likely, realize about $225 million. Not Zuckerberg’s stratospheric wealth, but not bad.
Of course, there is also the question as to how this will effect users of the popular social network site. Facebook has claimed over 800 million accounts, something about which we will know more when the deal goes through. Facebook may find itself selling users’ data as advertisers find a new place to promote their products – personally designed to fit your needs. They did it once, stopped, but may start up again. That may have an impact on how users’ feel about their privacy. We may already have become numb to it given the fact that you can’t even open your email without somebody trying to sell you things based on what we have searched for or purchased in the past. There’s a whole lot of “Big Brother” out there. It will be up to the individual account holders to weigh sending out pictures of their grandkids versus protecting some personal information. Facebook will probably not have a very tough battle in the United States as everyone, even those holding or seeking political office, has found it a very good way to spread their message. The only roadblock may come from the European Commission, whose regulations surrounding personal information are a little more stringent. I don’t think that Facebook or Mr. Zuckerberg are terribly worried, though. If it makes you feel a little better, Mark Zuckerberg may also have to pay the IRS about $2 billion in taxes.
reven8e
While we’re on the topic of rich people, I would love to hear your comments about our little close-knit group in the Hamptons.
Empress
realhousewifeofaiken 
Good Morning, Dearest Empress,
Thanks for the Facebook post. I barely understand IPOs, (and to this day, canNOT understand “shorting” a stock – I am worse at this crap than understanding football, if that’s possible.) I deleted my FB account a long time ago; it just sort of freaked me out, for all the reasons you described, about privacy.
I am still astonished by how billion is the new million. But I am *thrilled* the graffiti artist will be getting lots and lots of money. I know the Winklevii got into a lot of PR trouble by demanding more (and more and more.) I can’t blame them, per se, re: their claims, but enough *does* at some point, seem to be enough. Everyone at Facebook worked very hard to create something of value, but just how successful their culled info, etc. is a huge grey area. I was under the impression that people had gotten more sophisticated… maybe not. Hold on… a prince in Lithuania just sent me an email and he needs money…
I LOVED Revenge last night! Nolan (aka: Mark Zuckerberg) is adorable. It’s my opinion that he’s actually Emily’s brother. Note how closely colored their hair is. I think *SPOILERS* (opinion) that Tyler stole the infinity box, gives Daniel a note from it, and Tyler shoots Daniel. Then, either Conrad or Amanda get accused of shooting Tyler, but it’s Amanda or Fauxmanda who actually shot him. Or something!
Revenge is a really fun show that is a total distraction from reality, unlike rhobh, which causes (due to Taylor almost single-handedly wrecking the franchise) viewers to respond ver-y emotionally to the “reality” part of it. We see the woman’s character no matter how hard they try to hide it. Then, all of the sudden, we’re pissed off (JZ) or, in the case of Taylor, damnably enraged. It’s too much.
I’m looking fwd to Mad Men coming back!
Well, you have to give credit where credit is due. The guy had a vision, went for it and in the process, made thousands of people overnight millionaires. And these people, as well as Z., will also pay taxes, so their state might just be a bit healthier financially.
I guess if people decide to remain on Facebook, they will have to be more diligent about the information they decide to post. If I were a parent, my children would have to give me access to any and all accts. they have and I’d check it daily to protect them from others and themselves.
When I go to a large search engine and type what I am looking for, for a cheaper price, I get the pop-up from other sites, flashing in my face, and I agree with you, we are becoming numb to the realization that our lives, needs and wants are known by any and all that we might come into contact with on the world wide web.
I try to be careful but sometimes ‘ya just goober!
Well, this will give you heartburn:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/09/opinion/ghitis-google-privacy/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
If you have a g-mail acct., Google has every email you have ever sent. And on and on…
I gave up on any expectations of privacy years ago… If you dont want someone to see..dont say it….dont send.. dont type it…. simple…I dont have anything of any value to any hackers anyways…so hack away…. I know they will enjoy my RED FOLDER and of course..the JOKE FOLDER…..LOL LOL
The things that are important to me , no hacker could ever take from me..My integrity and values of life….and of course..GOOD FRIENDS….
Hugs and Peace
Diva
I agree.
What bothers me is that I look at certain vacations, cruises, and voila! I receive pamphlets in the regular mail concerning what I looked up several days before on the internet. Im a tree hugger and although I recycle my mail, I don’t appreciate all the junk that comes with trying to find stuff on the internet. Its inconvenient and wasteful and all the junk email is frustrating as well.
Revenge just keeps getting more twisted & it’s riveting to watch. Tyler must have slipped out of his straight jacket & ditched the insane asylum where he was interred…lol. So was it Tyler that got into Emily’s secret cache? Or was it faux Amanda…there are 2 more episodes to find out, “Chaos” and “Scandal.” Can’t wait. I think we are going to be very unhappy with how it turns out.
I don’t like Facebook at all. I created an account in order to keep in touch with family, but now I never use it. Too much invasion of privacy. It’s best not to use your real name, FYI. Especially young people, as in the future your prospective employer could use your Facebook account to snoop on you. Or your existing boss. My son uses it a lot to chat with friends, sort of like texting but faster. Those conversations are not on your wall, but who knows if Zuckerberg et al keeps tabs. The worst thing you can do is play games through Facebook, or put all your information in your profile. That’s how they track you. And yes it is annoying to shop on line and then have adds for what you were looking at follow you everywhere.
Another thoughtful blog post Empress, thank you. I wonder if the people who have Facebook stock will wait to cash out as a long term investment….then their tax burden would be less. The amount of money that will be made by so few is staggering, isn’t it? Do you think they deserve it?
I think anyone who creates their own business is deserving of the profits it might realize. I’d rather see folks like Bill Gates and others make the money the way they do, than see the execs on Wall Street or in the banks just give themselves obscene salaries.
BlueSky.
Im going to try to make this brief. I watched Revenge yesterday afternoon. I think Ashley took that box. I thought that her conversation with Conrad was interesting. He called her Victoria’s Birdie…but he also said she didn’t seem to be a grifter or a lackey (paraphrased).
She has had a relationship with Emily for years, dating back to New York. I think she knows more than shes letting on (does she know Emily is really Amanda?) and may have some revenge of her own to carry out.
Could it be that her parents had something to do with the downing of the passenger plane? Were they passengers? Did her family have an affiliation with the terrorists? Are they trying to get back at Grayson Global because they stopped laundering their cash?
I don’t think it was ‘Amanda’ that took the box…if she wants to out ‘Emily” she can simply tell the truth, she doesn’t need her box. And i don’t think she would know where the box was. Ashley on the other hand (and Lydia) were familiar with the cottage. Ashley actually told Emily about it being on the market and introduced her to the realtor
This show has so many twists and cliff hangers, anything is possible. I’m rarely right when I try to predict what will happen. I love this show and cant wait to see the nest and final episode. Nothing is what it seems.
My mind kind of reels when I try to put these ideas together. There are so many pieces to this puzzle its hard to connect them and explain
Good questions about Ashley. We really don’t know much about her past. I also wondered about Nolan and the floorboard “message”. He is at his wit’s end with this whole plot. It really does let your imagination go wild. Is Nolan real-Amanda’s brother? Is David Clarke really dead? Oh, I think I need more coffee.
Hi Deco, I think you are right. Ashley’s past is unknown so her past & her revenge could be carried on in Season 2. I read some stuff on online that upset me, that’s why I’m not going to be happy with how this season ends. The writer/creator of the show said in one article that future episodes will deal with other character’s “revenge” so that’s where Ashley fits in. Something major will happen in the last episode (not going to say, don’t want to ruin it for others) but the repercussions from that will be major. And again, I’m going to be very mad at the real Amanda for letting things go to far!
Think Progress on Facebook
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/02/10/423292/facebook-tax-dodger/