Facebook has been crossing one milestone after another in the past few months. The company announced the registration of the network’s 500 millionth member earlier this month and according to a recent estimate by Inside Facebook, the world’s largest social networking service could make as much as $1.1 billion in 2010.
Looking at the fast growth over the past few months and also the uncertainty that exists in the longer term – MySpace dropped down the cliff in less than two years time – it was popularly speculated that Facebook may choose to file for an IPO by next year.
However, according to a recent revelation on Bloomberg, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Facebook may have decided to put off the company’s initial public offering at the stock markets by at least a year. The reason, it is believed, is to ensure that the company earns more users and revenues without the additional scrutiny that comes with going public.
With revenues of $1.1 billion, that growth may be possible. However, the company may also be losing out on building a much more robust cash chest by delaying the IPO filing. With Google rumored to be working on a social networking rival, there are external threats to Facebook as well in the long term. I would have personally wanted Facebook to go for an IPO sooner. What do you think?