If half the stuff published about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is true, the 23-year-old Harvard dropout is a major league kook. But he's also one of the most important entrepreneurs of the past 20 years.

People -- including me -- thought he was nuts when he turned down a $1 billion buyout offer from Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) and a $750 million one from Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA). It turns out that Zuckerberg got the last laugh. In October, Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) agreed to invest $240 million for a 1.6% stake in Facebook in a deal that values the company at $12 billion.

Zuckerberg also reportedly drove the suits who wanted to buy his company bananas for, among other things, delaying meetings in order to spend time with his girlfriend. But he knows his user base. When Facebook users revolted over the company's Beacon advertising program, he admitted the company screwed up, saying on his blog "we simply did a bad job with this release, and I apologize for it." Now, users who don't want to participate in Beacon can opt out of it.

But like all great entrepreneurs, Zuckerberg has a gigantic ego and is attracting his share of nasty lawsuits. The New York Times recently reported that Facebook tried to get the magazine 02138 to remove documents from its website related to a lawsuit against that claims Zuckerberg "stole the idea and some of the computer source code for Facebook from some fellow students."

Let me make a not so bold prediction and say that this case will be settled sometime next year. The settlement amount will be considerable and kept confidential, allowing Zuckerberg to continue tinkering with his company, enabling him to wreak havoc in the media world for years to come.

He's got plenty of time to make and lose several billion before he turns 30.

Be sure to check out more Money Winners of 2007.

Money Winners of 2007: Facebook's Marc Zuckerberg calls the shots originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 14 Dec 2007 12:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Facebook brags about how it understands its vast community.

However, some members of the community have been perturbed lately, if not creeped out. Even MoveOn.org initiated an online protest.

The reason is Facebook's attempts to monetize things through its Beacon advertising system. Basically, it shows your online friends where you are shopping, such as from places like Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN).

True, this may be useful in terms of getting helpful information (think of Beacon as a recommendation service) - but it also raises serious privacy issues.

Well, Facebook has blinked. Now, the company will provide an opt-in option to its users.

All in all, I think it's a smart move and should help quell some of the protest. However, it's likely to make it tougher for Facebook to crank out more money for its investors -- such as Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) -- that have valued the company at frothy $15 billion. No doubt, the money-privacy balance will be a continuing struggle for the fast-growing website.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

Facebook presses the undo button originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 30 Nov 2007 12:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The news that radical left-wing interest group, MoveOn.org, has started to focus their ammunition on popular social networking site Facebook, has to leave one wondering if presidential wannabe Hillary Clinton, is actually behind this move. It's been widely speculated that MoveOn.org, is a front organization for the Democratic Party, and is this a potential "trial balloon" that the Clinton campaign is sending out?

The issue surrounds Facebook's new product, Beacon. MoveOn is claiming that the platform allows advertisers to sell goods to subscribers by placing customized ads in users' conversations. MoveOn calls this a "gross invasion of privacy." MoveOn would know something about invasion of privacy. Their whole agenda is for the government to intrude more and more into our personal lives. See their push for nationalized, socialized medicine.

By adding an opt-in option, I think that Facebook would be fine regarding invasion of privacy. Is MoveOn against an invasion of privacy, or an invasion of capitalism?

I'd love to hear Sen. Clinton's take on all of this. Could she really be against the biggest thing to hit the internet?

Aaron Katsman is the lead Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. and Senior Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com. Disclosure: Writer holds no position in any stock mentioned as of 11/21/07.

Is Hillary Clinton anti-Facebook? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 25 Nov 2007 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Facebook's creepy Beacon ads put your mouth where your money is

Facebook's creepy Beacon ads put your mouth where your money is originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 22 Nov 2007 12:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Merriman believes FY07 is a transitional year for Bluefly (NASDAQ: BFLY), starting the company with a Neutral rating, and finds the stock fairly valued at current levels.

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Analyst initiations 5-23-07: BECN, LEAP, MHP and PCS originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 23 May 2007 11:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.