GWOP Report: Facebook Timeline to IPO

In February of 2004, a nerdy jewish kid from Harvard had an idea that would ultimately change the world.  Mark Zuckerberg was an undergraduate at Harvard University when he created TheFacebook, now known worldwide as Facebook.com.

In 2012, you can’t go shopping, on vacation or even out to eat with out seeing a Facebook advertisement.  Your mom, dad, sister, cousin, uncle, aunt and family dog all have a Facebook account.  Some babies are even posted on the popular website before the baby father is revealed or even before the kid has a name.  With all this attention the popular social networking site,  Facebook is going public valuing the website at $100 Billion Dollars!  Wowzers! Thats enough GWOP money to bake biscuits for the whole projects!!!!!

Checkout the Facebook timeline to IPO after the jump.

2004: First Offers Turned Down

Facebook launches with humble beginnings that most people have seen dramatized in The Social Network by now. It was a small social site backed by only a little money, and limited just to the undergrads at Harvard. Right out of the gate, Facebook turned down offers from an unknown investor and Friendster, each offering $10 million. This was, of course, when the company was still called TheFacebook.

By 2005, “TheFacebook” was becoming more and more interesting to potential investors. They waved off bids from the likes of NBC, The Washington Post Group, and two separate attempts from both MySpace and Viacom/MTV.

Facebook became more legitimized as it moved into more colleges, and then expanded to the public. Microsoft signed a large advertising deal with Facebook, an event that began a long, positive relationship between the two companies.

Just a month later, Yahoo made a $1 billion offer to buy Facebook, but it was rebuffed after Yahoo’s stock dropped and the company had to lower to $800 million.

After a lucrative advertising relationship, Microsoft invests heavily in Facebook, putting in $240 million for 1.6% stake in the company. This raised Facebook’s estimated worth to $15 billion, after only three years of existence. Despite this, Zuckerberg said the possibility of an IPO is “years out.”

In an interview with 60 Minutes in January, Mark Zuckerberg said there was no chance of a Facebook IPO that year. In August, Facebook gave itself a valuation of $4 billion, then began letting fully vested employees sell 20% of their stock based on that valuation.

Facebook gets $200 million investmentfrom Russian Digital Sky, who bought 1.96% of the company with that. That investment raised Facebook’s valuation to $10 billion.

Two other estimates of wealth came out later in 2009 that lowered Facebook’s valuation, probably as more terms of the deal with Digital Sky became clear.

Zuckerberg is still coy about an IPO, saying there is “no rush,” and proving that Facebook doesn’t need the money.

November 2010: Valuation Climbs

Trading on secondary markets suggests Facebook is the third most valuable web company in the United States. As private investors sold their stakes, valuations of the company soared as high as $56 billion.

Goldman Sachs and Digital Sky Technologies drop a massive $500 million cash infusion into Facebook, pushing its value upwards of $50 billion. According to USA Today, that valuation exceeds companies like eBay and Nike.

Facebook also launches an $1.5 billion equity offering through Goldman Sachs, letting some private investors buy a piece of Facebook.

June 2011: The $100 Billion IPO?

Reports circulate that Facebook’s IPO could exceed $100 billion, and that it might go public during the first quarter of 2012.

In 2012, sources state that 27 year old Mark Zuckerberg is worth $23 billion after a $100 billion IPO, making him the youngest billionaire in America.

All of this GWOP started from an idea. Congrats! 

“All achievements, all earned riches, have their beginning in an idea” –Napolean Hill