From a comment I made a few days ago on the "Is Apple buying Facebook" article:
"a buyout is probably unlikely (given how many offers/deals Zuck has either rejected or pulled out of in the last minute over the past 6 years). That said, he may be looking to Apple as a default liquidity provider which would save Facebook from needing to go public. If existing VC firms seeking liquidity and employees looking to cash out all sold to Apple that would probably decrease their outstanding # of shareholders and keep them clear of SEC regs for at least a little while longer. Also seems like a solid long term relationship given both companies' strong focus on design, usability, and the consumer."
The move obviously makes strategic sense but I don't see why Zuck wouldn't want to just use Apple as a pre-IPO (instead of issuing new shares) and let Fbook shareholders sell existing stock to Apple. Like I said earlier, this could help delay the need for an IPO for another few years (possibly longer).
Hmm. What if Apple streamed music through Facebook (with integrated social features ie Ping) as a premium service and split the revenue with Facebook. Facebook's install base is so large, cost-leadership wouldn't be necessary to beat Spotify etc.
Also, I could see some teamwork between their respective game platforms/businesses. Buy an App Store game, you get to share it with two of your Facebook friends (send them a download token), which creates many more word of mouth sales, etc. Just seems Apple are the people poised to actually capitalize on a massive social network user base.
An IPO for Facebook would mean losing all of their top engineers who are hanging around until they can cash out. Everyone will leave for the next hot startup and to work on their own projects. Zuck is smart for dragging the process out.
Who?
Do you know this or is it simply conjecture. Do you know for sure that Joe Hewitt is there just for the IPO?
Also, if the contracts were created correctly there should be an earnout to prevent just such a thing if it was a serious risk.
Many companies have been through an IPO with out losing their top talent, perhaps you should look at GOOG and see how detrimental the IPO was to that stock.
Regarding Microsoft as an investor and it's conflict with Apple, keep in mind that Microsoft has already taken a direct investment in Apple buying ~3% of the company about 10-12 years ago for $150 million. The day they bought it it closed at $4.97 compared to $307 today.
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[ 0.24 ms ] story [ 35.3 ms ] threadFYI, "[RUMOR]" has been removed and replaced with "[DEBUNKED]". Nothing to see here.
"Update: We’ve had detailed conversations with Facebook, and its representatives have discredited our tipster, who didn’t have his facts straight."
"a buyout is probably unlikely (given how many offers/deals Zuck has either rejected or pulled out of in the last minute over the past 6 years). That said, he may be looking to Apple as a default liquidity provider which would save Facebook from needing to go public. If existing VC firms seeking liquidity and employees looking to cash out all sold to Apple that would probably decrease their outstanding # of shareholders and keep them clear of SEC regs for at least a little while longer. Also seems like a solid long term relationship given both companies' strong focus on design, usability, and the consumer."
The move obviously makes strategic sense but I don't see why Zuck wouldn't want to just use Apple as a pre-IPO (instead of issuing new shares) and let Fbook shareholders sell existing stock to Apple. Like I said earlier, this could help delay the need for an IPO for another few years (possibly longer).
Also, I could see some teamwork between their respective game platforms/businesses. Buy an App Store game, you get to share it with two of your Facebook friends (send them a download token), which creates many more word of mouth sales, etc. Just seems Apple are the people poised to actually capitalize on a massive social network user base.