This Day in History: , Facebook Raises $16 Billion in Largest Tech IPO in U.S. History.
May 18, 2012.
The company raised $16 billion
at its initial public offering (IPO).
At the time,
Facebook's IPO was the largest
of any tech company in U.S. history.
It was the third largest of any company.
With 900 million users worldwide,
the social network was valued at $104 billion.
Initially founded as a social network
for Harvard students in 2004,
Facebook was created by Mark Zuckerberg
and three other classmates.
By 2008, the platform had become so popular
that it was used by presidential candidate
Barack Obama. It was considered essential in
helping him win the White House.
At the close of trading, Facebook shares
were worth just slightly more than the
$38 IPO price at $38.23