Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared on 60 Minutes on Sunday with a message that may be disappointing for investors looking for a piece of the red hot social networking site: An IPO this year is "highly unlikely".
Zuckerberg, who is worth a reported $3 billion, says he lives in a one-bedroom apartment with a mattress on the floor, and is CEO of a company with 400 employees.
Last year, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) bought 1.6% of the company for $240 million, but doesn't seem ready to take the next step anytime soon:
"I think what I can announce is that it is highly unlikely that we will go public in 2008. And when going public makes sense to do, we'll do that. And maybe that's two years out. Maybe it's three years out."
In spite of Facebook's huge popularity, there is concern that Zuckerberg and company have not yet found a way to monetize it successfully and turn it into a wildly profitable venture. It may be that Facebook plans to wait to go public until it finds a way to do that and score a higher valuation.
But long-term, I see the company's decision not to rush into an IPO as bullish. If Zuckerberg wants to cash out, he could do it right now and and get a nice bed for his mattress. His decision to keep the company private demonstrates a long-term commitment and optimism that the company will be as highly regarded 2 or 3 years down the road as it is now.
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