Facebook: A Like Story
Why investors shouldn’t fall in love
Edited by Jeffrey Goldfarb and Robert Cyran Cover design by Troy Dunkley 2
CONTENTS
Preface ……………………….………. 4 The present ……………………….. 6 The past ………………………….… 14 Early days ……………………….…. 15 Growing up …………………….…. 22 Proud parents ……………….….. 32 The Future ………………………... 36
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PREFACE
WELL-FLAGGED - Facebook and its Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg have raised some red flags for investors, including how the switch to mobile could be a big problem. REUTERS/Jim Young
Facebook’s initial public offering is the seminal event of the capital markets in 2012. Breakingviews has followed the social network’s growth in analytical fashion since soon after it started in Mark Zuckerberg’s Harvard University dorm room in 2004. We’ve compiled a selection of some two dozen of these incisive stories to illustrate Facebook’s trajectory and increasing importance , from its origins as a site used by college students to a business with approaching a billion users and, after its IPO, potentially worth more than $100 billion.
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“Facebook: A Like Story” kicks off with a timely, pertinent piece on how governments, rival businesses and Wall Street have become financially dependent on Facebook’s debut. The book also contains a handy number-cruncher - accompanied by an interactive calculator - that allows investors to value Facebook’s stock and see what assumptions are needed to reach the company’s indicated price of between $28 and $35 a share. Moving further back the company’s own timeline, the chapter entitled “The Past” explores how Facebook forged its path to domination in social media, often seemingly by the seat of its pants. Meanwhile, Yahoo’s failure to buy the company ultimately cemented the former highflying search firm’s own slide towards irrelevance. Facebook also let opportunities pass it by, for instance acquiring Twitter or an equity stake in Zynga. There were fights along the way, including with...
