Before Facebook: A Look Back at Major Tech IPOs

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Facebook is rumored to be going public this week in a deal that could value the social-networking site at an astonishing $100 billion. The company has stayed mum on its plans, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg saying in November that "it's honestly not something I spend time thinking about on a day-to-day basis."
Facebook's backers are likely thinking about it, though, as they stand to become instant tech millionaires. But how does this deal compare to some of the big tech company IPOs from the past? Several tech starts-ups have gone public in the last year - from LinkedIn and Yelp to Groupon and Zynga - but none have been as high-profile and potentially lucrative as Facebook.
Zuckerberg said the idea behind going public is to be able to give back to those who invested in the company and helped it grow with their engineering talent, though as some have noted, Facebook will basically be forced to go public in the coming months. U.S. securities regulations require companies with 500 or more shareholders to file financial reports with the SEC four months after the year they cross that threshold. Facebook hit that milestone last year, so it will have to disclose financial information by April 2012
In a recent appearance on Bloomberg TV, former Facebook vice president Chamath Palihapitiya said an investment option will help the social network attract top talent.
"The fight for technical talent is really high and the ability to find really great employees is difficult," Palihapitiya said. "So ultimately, I think we're moving to a world where the ability to ... tell a potential recruit, 'hey in two years, you'll be able to sell a part of your vested holdings,' will become the trump card. And then, the free bagels and the free drinks are important and kind of interesting, but fundamentally, you're at the edges and what people will really make a distinction about is not just the mission and the vision of the company but also, 'will I really be compensated for the value that I contribute?'"
Will the social network wait it out or actually go public this week? Stay tuned. In the meantime, check out some of the IPO stories of some of the country's biggest tech firms.



Google: 2004
Google filed for its IPO in April 2004, with Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc. and Credit Suisse First Boston LLC named as underwriters. As the AP noted this week, the search giant raised $1.2 billion for a market value of $23 billion, the largest debut for a U.S.-based Internet firm. Shares were offered at $85, but opened to $100 and closed at $100.34 after the first day. As of Monday evening, Google was valued at $187.83 billion.
Amazon: 1997
Amazon went public in May 1997 with 3 million shares of common stock for $18 per share. At the time, Amazon was averaging about 50,000 visits to its Web site, up from 2,200 a day in December 1995; last year, comScore said Amazon had 282 million visitors in June, or 20.4 percent of the worldwide Internet population. As the Puget Sound Business Journal noted at the time, analysts were divided over how successful the Amazon IPO might be. Amazon is currently valued at $87.38 billion.
Yahoo: 1996
Yahoo's April 1996 IPO spurred a "trading frenzy," the Los Angeles Times said at the time. The Internet firm's shares were priced at $13, opened at $24.50, and closed at $33. At the time, it was the Nasdaq's second-biggest first-day gain, the Times said. The IPO apparently attracted many regular investors looking to cash in on the dot-com boom. Yahoo is currently valued at $19.3 billion.
Microsoft: 1986
Microsoft went public in March 1986 at $21 per share, closing at $27.75 a share its first day, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer wrote then. Redmond was originally going to offer 2.5 million shares, but that was increased to just over 3 million thanks to demand. "I've never received as many phone calls about a new offering as I have over the last month (with Microsoft)," Ron McCollum, a broker with Paine Webber in Seattle, told the paper. At the time, Bill Gates owned 45 percent of the company while Paul Allen owned about 25 percent. Microsoft is currently valued at $248.45 billion.
Apple: 1980
Apple went public in December 1980 at $22 per share. At the time, it was the largest IPO since Ford in 1965. In October, after Steve Jobs's death, the Wall Street Journal looked back at its Apple IPO coverage and found that it fell on page 12, behind stories like President-elect Ronald Reagan's picks for Cabinet posts and Chrysler's debt problems. "Apple made less than $100 million from selling stock to the public — or what Apple makes now in roughly eight hours of sales," the Journal said this week. Apple is currently valued at $422.37 billion.