Facebook IPO sees shares sell at $38, company valued at $104 billion

After months of speculation, Facebook will finally begin trading this morning at $38 (£24) per share, in what will be the biggest IPO from a web firm in history.

Today’s listing will see $16 billion (£10bn) raised for Facebook’s NASDAQ index. It’ll also put a pretty penny in founder Mark Zuckerberg’s pocket, who will be selling 30 million shares for an expected $1.1bn (£700m). At that price, the 503.6 million shares and options Zuckerberg owns are valued at $19.1 billion, making him wealthier than Google Inc co- founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He’ll also be the 29th richest man on the planet.

The $38 shares will be available to the public, which will see the entire company valued at a staggering $104 billion (£66bn) overall, with $81 (£51bn) market capitalisation.

Previously, Google held the largest web IPO, landing on the stock market in 2004 and raising $1.67bn (£1.05bn).

Though Facebook are in an entirely different league, not everyone is convinced the valuation is a worthy one.

David Menlow, president of IPO Financial.com, a company that tracks new public offerings, said that at $38 per share, Facebook is far too costly.

“Is it worth this much? No,” Menlow said, though admitted that as a long term investment the company could be worth buying into, adding “I think you’ve got some incredibly brilliant people working at this company.”

Comparisons are being made to Amazon’s initial début price, also thought to have been way overpriced at the time but paying dividends for shrewd, risk-taking investors who bought in at the time.