News_Editor Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Facebook's value now at $50 billion 2011-01-04 03:59:52 GMT+7 (ICT) NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- Facebook, the popular social networking site, is now valued at $50 billion following a $500 million investment from Goldam Sachs and a Russian investment firm, the New York Times reported on Monday. Under the terms of the deal, Goldman invested $50 million while Digital Sky Technologies invested the remaining $50 million. The Russian firm has previously invested over a half billion dollars. Goldman Sachs also holds the option of selling up to $75 million to Digital Sky. The deal will add to a debate on what would the company would be worth in the public market. It is estimated that Facebook could bring as much as $2 billion in revenue annually. Last November, $40 million worth of Facebook shares were auctioned on a private exchange called SecondMarket. Over the last year, the social network company has tripled its value. In the same period of time, the popular social networking site surpassed Google as the most visited website in the year. Facebook received 8.9 percent of all web visits in the United States; Google received 7.2 percent. Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg was recently named 2010 TIME's Person of the Year for creating a new way to exchange information, connecting over half a billion people around the world and essentially changing social interactions. Zuckerberg's fortune was estimated by Forbes at $6.9 billion. However, such amount referred to the time in which Facebook was valued at $23 billion. It is believed that his current fortune is up to $25 billion. -- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-01-04 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brahmburgers Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Ridiculous. Does Facebook have any income? I mean really. If the only revenue generating aspect of it is posting ads, then it's wildly inflated valuation. I can understand Google having a high value, because Google offers paid services. What does Facebook offer to their fans which charge money? I think nothing, maybe I'm wrong. It reminds me of the AOL hyper high valuation that Ted Turner paid billions for. Then he woke up a few days later and realized AOL was 99% hype and no real value. AOL had millions of accounts (via their brilliant ad campaign), but millions of fans don't generate revenue out of thin air. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdnvic Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 They have an ungodly amount of very personalized marketing info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brahmburgers Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 (edited) They have an ungodly amount of very personalized marketing info. Ok, but does that generate revenue in vast amounts? Suppose I want to get some personalized marketing on Facebook - where do I go to pay for that? I thought personalized marketing on Facebook was essentially free anyway, I'll bet that Zuckerberg's insane fortune rests on stock price increases, not on income via Facebook. If that's so, then he's the best example of 'The Emporer's New Clothes' for his young generation. Bernie Madoff made billions via illegal deception. Zuckerberg is making billions via legal deception. It will be interesting to observe when the house of cards falls down. Edited January 4, 2011 by brahmburgers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaorop Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 <br />They have an ungodly amount of very personalized marketing info.<br /><br /><br /><br />ad blockers rule! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phuket Mike Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Does Facebook have any income? The article states "It is estimated that Facebook could bring as much as $2 billion in revenue annually." As far I can see the only revenue source is PPC advertising which to be honest is very good, allowing advertisers to target people based on their profile information. As already stated with a massive database of information on it's users (500 million people) this in itself is worth a fortune, but is it worth $50 billion ? It probably is at present but for how long, how long will it be before someone else comes along with the next social media platform and everyone starts to migrate, you only have to look at Myspace. Personally I think there are a lot of issues with how Facebook works and is managed if someone else comes a long with a product that fixes these issues people will leave in droves. At the moment Facebook is an extremely useful marketing tool and if you have a business web site Facebook integration is a must. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prapoj Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 If I am Mark Zuckerberg, I would sell today. This will make be richer than Thaksin family 10 times already. (Thaksin was only valued at around 2 billion USD at his prime). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExpatJ Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Personally I think there are a lot of issues with how Facebook works and is managed if someone else comes a long with a product that fixes these issues people will leave in droves. I completely agree- i find the FB user interface to be horrible and user unfriendly- i am waiting for a competing site to emerge.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomat Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Does Facebook have any income? ... What does Facebook offer to their fans which charge money? I think nothing, maybe I'm wrong. They changed their policy on application credits this year. Before all the application developers, mainly Zynga, were allowed to have their own credit system where you would buy in-game gold (or whatever it is) for real money. Now you have to buy Facebook credits and use those in the game. The application developer of course gets compensated but Facebook keeps a small amount. Also Facebook has those "virtual gifts" you can give your friends that cost 1$ or something like that, why anyone would ever in a million years would pay a dollar to give their friend an icon of a flower or whatever is beyond me though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brahmburgers Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 (edited) Does Facebook have any income? ... What does Facebook offer to their fans which charge money? I think nothing, maybe I'm wrong. They changed their policy on application credits this year. Before all the application developers, mainly Zynga, were allowed to have their own credit system where you would buy in-game gold (or whatever it is) for real money. Now you have to buy Facebook credits and use those in the game. The application developer of course gets compensated but Facebook keeps a small amount.Also Facebook has those "virtual gifts" you can give your friends that cost 1$ or something like that, why anyone would ever in a million years would pay a dollar to give their friend an icon of a flower or whatever is beyond me though. Apparently, I'm not alone in thinking Facebook is wildly overvalued. See this opinion piece for some other reasons. One tidbit from that article: "Facebook says it had 2 billion revenue last year, yet its valuation is 50 billion. Would you pay 25 times value for something? I wouldn't." Message to Facebook's top banana: Sell sell sell! There's never going to be a better time to sell than right now. ....and for my sage advice, you can pay me a modest commission of 1/2 of 1%. Thanks for shedding some light on my earlier question; "Does Facebook have any real income?" The two things you mentioned are frivolities. Even if a bazillion people bought in to them (which isn't happening), it wouldn't add up to big money. And the ads which appear on busy web sites: it's like the nose on your face - you learn very early on - to block them from your sight (from your site also, as earlier mention of 'ad-blocker' alluded to). Unless someone can prove me wrong, I see Facebook as a gargantuan fizzle with nothing much backing it up - and nearly no real revenue coming in. All this talk of tens of billions of dollars of value, seems to only apply to their stock value. Knowing how the stock market works, is to know that values for companies balloon often - for all sorts of reasons. Nearly everything in the stock market is floating on borrowed money and hype. It would have all imploded in October 2008 if the former money managers from Wall Street in D.C. hadn't forced the shoveling tens of billions of federal dollars in Wall Street's lap. They can put off catastrophe for a few months or years, but the chickens are going to come home to roost some time - it's inevitable. In five years, people will be talking about Facebook in the past tense, as one of the greatest false fortune hypes of the early 21st century. Edited January 7, 2011 by brahmburgers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dantilley Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 They have an ungodly amount of very personalized marketing info. I think that's the crux of the matter. Plus they make revenue from the in-site ads they serve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devdrinker Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 (edited) I can understand Google having a high value, because Google offers paid services. Stuff like Google Apps Premier / Enterprise, Google App Engine, Search in a box appliance make only a tiny tiny fraction of googles income. Believe it or not it comes from "just" Ads! If the only revenue generating aspect of it is posting ads, then it's wildly inflated valuation. "just" ads work for Google. Seem to be doing wonders for Facebook now. Facebook is still growing, and now they are reaching out beyond their usual base with integration into other websites (CNN as an example) and the Like It button, apps etc. People see potential and value. AOL is a different story.. For record I hate Facebook but I think valuation is probably pretty accurate, unlike the old dot.com bubble.By the time the IPO comes about I imagine it will be higher Edited January 11, 2011 by devdrinker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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