In , Facebook banned employees from selling their stock, citing legal concerns around insider-trading rules. So, in an odd twist, the only way for early employees to cash out their vested stock options has been to leave the company. Given that, going public is important to help Facebook keep good people, although some newly rich always bolt as happened at Google. It should also cheer up those with restricted stock units, which plenty of Facebookers have privately griped about.
Face it, Zuck: You'll be more powerful as a public company People like to say that public companies aren't able to move on a dime, to take big risks outside the scrutiny of Wall Street. But I don't buy it. Apple under the late Steve Jobs should be the model for Zuckerberg.
Jobs consistently made products--think the iPhone, or the iPad--that lesser leaders wouldn't have dared make because they would have feared cannibalizing money makers the iPod and laptops in the Apple example and pissing off Wall Street.
Zuckerberg, too, can make bold bets, especially given that the company is reportedly planning to sell just 10 percent of the company to the public. He and his team will still be very much in control. That's important, given that the consumer Internet has in some ways become a battle of titans--Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft--all of which are sitting on mountains of cash.
Facebook has been buying up lots of smaller companies with cash--sometimes for the product, sometimes for the engineers--and a sudden cash infusion would let Zuckerberg pick up the speed on that front. But empowered with cash and stock, Zuckerberg could also think bigger and, if needed, start making Google-sized acquisitions.
Ultimately, whether Facebook continues to thrive isn't about whether or not it's public. It's about how good Zuckerberg is as a leader. And that's what the world will be watching as his already large public profile gets even larger. Be respectful, keep it civil and stay on topic. In particular, the stock has been on a tear since March , more than doubling in value over the past 17 months.
The rest of the proceeds are likely invested elsewhere by CZI as well as being used to fund the organization, which has more than employees. Relatively speaking, though, Zuckerberg has sold far less Facebook stock in dollar terms than Bezos has sold of Amazon in total. Still, the former Amazon CEO, who stepped down from the position earlier this month , is the richest person in the world. This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here.
More From Forbes. The Journal said at least some of the documents it reviewed have been given to the SEC and Congress by someone seeking federal whistleblower protection. The veracity of these documents would likely be crucial to an SEC investigation.
In other words, it would have to be more than an innocent or stupid mistake. At its heart, securities fraud is about deceiving investors. There are many different activities that can trigger a securities fraud investigation. The most recent data that the SEC keeps on the matter shows that in , the agency brought hundreds of actions against individuals or corporations for fraud. Keep in mind, these are only the cases that were brought.
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