Now we’ve all been hearing rumors and reading reports about a Facebook IPO for the longest time, so normally, I wouldn’t get excited about this “news.”
However, last week, trading of private Facebook shares on secondary markets was frozen. And at the 2012 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg commented directly on the idea of going public by saying, “If this is seen as an opportunity for jobs and for people to use their work to change the world, that’s what we want to be a part of.”
The language in this psuedo-sales pitch is reminiscent of Google Inc.’s GOOG -0.69% “Don’t Be Evil” mantra, which it incidentally referenced in its 2004 Founders’ IPO Letter:
“Don’t be evil. We believe strongly that in the long term, we will be better served -- as shareholders and in all other ways -- by a company that does good things for the world even if we forgo some short-term gains. This is an important aspect of our culture and is broadly shared within the company.”
The Google IPO defined the last bull market, at least in technology. It was a mega-deal from the most important tech company of the day, and it’s made people a lot of money.
