Facebook could float at $100bn valuation

THE SOCIAL NETWORK Facebook could hit the stock market valued at $100bn.

The Wall Street Journal quotes unnamed "people close to the matter" to tell it that Facebook's initial public offering (IPO) is imminent, and that it could raise as much as £10bn. This the investor rag adds will give it a purported book value of $100bn, which is more than some long term technology firms like HP and 3M can boast.

How a place that just lets people get together virtually and share photos, location data, consumer product preferences, thoughts on politics and big business, their age, sexual preferences, religion, likes and dislikes and political leanings could be worth so much money is a mystery to us. Perhaps Facebook sells all that information, or something.

Anyway, once this monster hits the stock market people are expected to clamour to grab a piece of the action. They should start clearing their diaries for March and April of next year then, as this is the timeframe that the company apparently is working to target.

People person and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is not fully set on the date, according to the sources, but reportedly is warming to it. The newspaper adds that the firm is already talking to the US Securities and Exchange Commission about the possible IPO. µ