Hey Justin, Twitter is Going Public, dude

Zuckerberg: "people underestimate us"

 

Seemingly challenging and laughing right back in his critics' faces, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says:  "I would rather be in a cycle where people underestimate us because I'd rather be underestimated. I think it gives us the latitude to go out and make some big bets."

At a technology conference in San Francisco, Zuckerberg gave his first interview since Facebook Inc.'s IPO in May, sounding very unconcerned with Wall Street, numbers, expectations or the plight of his shareholders.

Facebook investors get what they paid for

In honor of Mark Zuckerberg and his jets, flights and everything else Facebook, Elton John plays "Mark Bennie and the Jets" for us.

The Facebook hit to UBS: $350 million

ZURICH—UBS said it took a loss of more than $350 million on the ill-fated Facebook Inc. initial public offering, wiping out nearly half of its second-quarter profit, and it accused Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. of a "gross mishandling" of the stock-market listing.

Wall Street Journal article

Facebook: A Dog with Fleas

Gordon Gekko to Bud Fox - Wall Street (1987)

"Not bad, but that's a dog with different fleas."

The stock is in a nose-dive. The CEO is offering Wall Street no guidance on future operating expectations. People are now calling the company FaceBerg. Investors feel "Zucker-punched." Mark Cuban exited the stock weeks ago with a $200k hit to his personal balance sheet. The last minute over-pricing of the Facebook IPO (as recommended by the Facebook CFO) now looks like an exercise in pure greed.

But, nevertheless, and in the interest of fair reporting and commentary, the stock and the company still has fans. This is what passes for sophisticated financial analysis on Wall Street these days:

"The company's user base currently comprises the third-largest country in the world, and its emphasis on mobile platforms suggests to us that it can become the largest country in the world in a matter of years. Facebook has immense value, which may not be readily apparent from its near term earnings, but which is substantial nonetheless." - Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter

More Facebook Lawsuits

As predicted by Think Billions, more lawsuits against Facebook

Facebook Inc(NASDAQ:FB): Milberg LLP Announces Class Action Lawsuits Filed Against Facebook, Inc. | Mesh Press

The complaints charge Facebook, certain of its officers and directors, and underwriters of the IPO with violations of the Securities Act of 1933.

Zuckers!

Mark Cuban, Facebook Speculator

Mark Cuban, last week, purchased nearly $5 million of Facebook stock as a short-term speculative trade.

Cuban sees it this way: “It’s a trade, not an investment. Kind of like buying a Mickey Mantle, a Hank Aaron and a Barry Bonds rookie card knowing there is a card show in town next week.”

Mrs. Facebook, a simple creature, a simple billionaire

Who is Priscilla Chan?


Well, according to Priscilla herself, she is but a "simple creature."

Now, that simple creature instantly has a most complex life ahead of her.

The newlyweds, Mr. and Dr. Chan-Zuckerberg, both went to college at Harvard and have been together for nine years.

And they tied the knot in a very private and modest event in California this month with fewer than 100 in attendance.  Green Day lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong entertained the guests.

Of course Mark announced this event on his Facebook page when he changed his relationship status to "married."

Congratulations to Mr. and Dr. Chan-Zuckerberg! Think Billions wishes you both well!

Facebook shares crash - E-Trade baby loses everything

Facebook shares crash in Day 2 of NASDAQ trading. E-Trade baby loses everything. Panic selling hits once hot IPO. Mark Zuckerberg on honeymoon. Chief underwriter, Morgan Stanley, repeats opinion that it "nailed the IPO price." Groupon already running a special on Facebook shares. Investor lawsuits may be a liquidity event for lawyers.

“We’re witnessing a lot of American wealth getting created. It opens a new chapter, an exciting chapter, for business in this country,” --- Carl Campanile, CNBC regular propagandist

Zuckers!

Fading Facebook: IPO opens at $42 and then massive sell volume

Facebook Friday is here as shares initially jump on the open NASDAQ in first day of trade. 

Over 60% of the FB float changes hands. Bill Gross calls it a bubble. Looks like a classic pump and dump.

NASDAQ wins the Facebook listing contest

The Nasdaq Stock Market, the market that few people know what that darn acronym actually stands for [except Think Billion$: National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations], has won the Facebook derby for new stock listings.

Facebook Inc. plans to list its shares on the NASDAQ Stock Market, not the NYSE - New York Stock Exchange.

Facebook, based in Menlo Park, CA, filed in February 2012 to raise $5 billion in the largest Internet IPO on record.

All Hail, King Zuckerberg!

Beware the king: Zuckerberg’s voting power a risk to shareholders | VentureBeat

As VentureBeat’s Jolie O’Dell pointed out yesterday, Mark Zuckerberg managed to strike a deal with some key investors and friends that gives him 57 percent of the shareholder voting power. For a public company, it’s an almost unheard of concentration of authority, a troubling sign for those who focus on shareholder rights.

“The public has no say in the control of the board, which in my view is terribly harmful to any notion of accountability,” Charles Elson, a University of Delaware corporate-governance professor, told Bloomberg. ”It’s very troubling to investors, and it’s a bad bet for them.”

Zynga: Just another billion dollar 2011 IPO washout

The buzz on Wall Street last week was supposed to be the latest social gaming stock designed to put money in your pocket.

It didn't buzz.

Sorry gaming investors. Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA), the latest billion-dollar IPO launched at $10 and gradually just faded away. (It is beginning this week on the big fade as well). Happy holidays, gaming investors.

One site headlined: "Zynga Stock Falls 5% as Retail Investors Get Sandbagged." Yeah, sandbagged is the polite term.

Why is this happening to IPO's? It is simple, really. Companies such as Zynga (and Facebook) take advantage of “D round” financing. Their prices have already been bid up and maxed out by investors during this very late round of private equity financing. Sorry noobie gaming investors suckers.

Groupon discounts its revenue

From the NYT Deal Book column: Accounting Change Cuts Groupon’s Revenue



For example, in a version of the prospectus filed last month, Groupon
reported $1.52 billion in revenue for the first six months of the year.
In Friday’s filing, that number is now called net revenue and is $688
million. The original $1.52 billion figure is now counted as gross
billings.

Groupon’s accounting change is the inverse of what Google
did before its own public debut in 2004. The search giant initially
excluded cash that was shared with distribution partners in its revenue
figures. It later changed its revenue to include those payouts.

Glencore's IPO will mine 6 new billionaires

Glencore, the global commodities producer and marketer based in Switzerland, has released its long anticipated prospectus for its upcoming IPO (initial public offering) this year.

As a result of the IPO, which will value the company at roughly $60 billion, six new billionaires including CEO Ivan Glasenberg, aged 54, will be created.



Glencore

Forbes article

("Undervalued") Facebook won't be an IPO until 2012 or later

Seven years ago Peter Thiel made a $500,000 angel investment in Facebook for 10% of the company and was on Fox Business on Monday commenting about Facebook and business related issues.

Of prime importance to Facebook watchers is news about the status of the IPO that everyone knows eventually will come.

Earlier this year, Bloomberg reported that Facebook was holding off on its IPO for another couple of years and Thiel seems to confirm this line of thinking.

Facebook strategizes pre-IPO

By JESSICA E. VASCELLARO

Facebook Inc. took steps to solidify the control of founder Mark Zuckerberg and other existing shareholders in the event the social-networking company goes public.

The closely held Silicon Valley firm, emulating one of Google Inc.'s well-known strategies, established a dual-class stock structure that would increase the voting power of Mr. Zuckerberg, who is the company's chief executive, and other existing shareholders if they hold onto their shares during an IPO.


WSJ article

Eike Batista Brings it in Brazil

This week in Brazil, Eike Batista, bet a couple of his millions and several of Brazil's investing public billion's that OGX Petroleo e Gas SA, and its undersea leases off the coast, will yield a gusher. Thursday's initial offering of oil venture OGX Petroleo e Gas SA raised nearly $3.6 billion, the exchange's biggest IPO.

Eike, a self-made billionaire in the gold and iron mining sector, is now making this big bet in the oil industry. It is a story and entrepreneur to closely follow.

His friends call him "a serial entrepreneur doings things on a massive scale." (WSJ 6/12/08).





links -

Eike Batista ranks 142 on The World's Billionaires 2008

Brazil's Batista Is `Creator of Wealth,' Turning Gold Into Iron

Eike Fuhrken Batista, Founder, Chairman of the Board and CEO of EBX,MMX Mineração e Metálicos S.A.,

The Blackstone Group IPO (BX on the NYSE)

The Blackstone Group's IPO (initial public offering) raised $4.13 billion for the corporation on Friday by pricing at the top of its expected valuation range ($31 per share). Blackstone Group became the sixth-richest IPO in US stock market history today.

CEO Stephen Schwarzman now controls a firm whose market value stands at about $40 billion. His personal wealth also rose (with a 24 percent stake in Blackstone) worth around $8 billion.

"This is a new breed of publicly traded financial firm," said Matthew Rhodes-Kropf, a professor of finance at Columbia Business School. "Once the market demonstrates its appetite for this type of investment, we're going to see all the biggest and the best go public -- even after the incredibly negative press it has generated."

update::: a market guru by the name of Peter Cohan predicted this week that "I will go out on a limb here and predict that these Blackstone units will end the day at $90 a unit." Blackstone Group (BX) closed trading on the NYSE on Friday at $35.06.