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Facebook: The Third Largest IPO in History

On May 17th Facebook, the biggest social network of the Internet, priced its Initial Public Offer (IPO) at US $38 a share. Financial experts calculate that at that price the company will raise US $16 billion, the largest technology IPO in history and the third largest IPO ever (Visa raised US $19.7 billion in 2008, and General Motors raised US $18.1 in 2010). Facebook is expecting the Securities and Exchange Commission to declare its offer effective before it can sell the shares to potential buyers. The clients may include large institutional investors, mutual funds and hedge funds.
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Anonymous Attacks Virgin Media

The British communications company owned by Sir Richard Branson was forced to take its website offline for an hour during a hack attack orchestrated by Anonymous as a protest against the company’s efforts to block access to The Pirate’s Bay, a file-sharing page. In a statement Virgin Media considered that “As a responsible ISP, Virgin Media complies with court orders but we strongly believe that tackling the issue of copyright infringement needs compelling legal alternatives, giving consumers access to great content at the right price, to help change consumer behavior.”

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Sony Reports Record Loss

In the fiscal year ending in March, Sony, the Japanese multinational conglomerate, considered one of the leading manufacturers of electronic products, lost a record of US $5.7 billion. This way, the company finishes its fourth straight year with a loss. Panasonic Corporation is also in trouble: it is expected to announce US $10 billion in annual losses. This week Sony’s shares slipped to its lowest level in 25 years. Its television division has lost money for the past eight years. In despite of this situation the company predicts a US $376.5 profit this current fiscal year.

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Facebook Launches its App Store

The successful company created by Mark Zuckerberg has launched a new app store to offer mobile programs that operate using the social network. In the near future developers will have the ability to charge a fee for apps sold. The company admitted that growth in mobile use could hurt future advertising revenue. The app center will be rolled out in the next week. In a statement the company explained: “If users increasingly access Facebook mobile products as a substitute for access through personal computers, and if we are unable to successfully implement monetization strategies for our mobile users, or if we incur excessive expenses in this effort, our financial performance and ability to grow revenue would be negatively affected.”

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Twitter Contests a US Court Order

A New York State Court called on Twitter, the micro-blogging company, to release tweets posted by an activist who participated in the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011. Twitter emphasizes that the contents are owned by the users, not by the firm. According to his lawyer Ben Lee: “Twitter’s terms of service make absolutely clear that its users ‘own’ their own content. Our filing with the court reaffirms our steadfast commitment to defending those rights for our users”. The case is centered on Malcolm Harris, arrested on October during a march across Brooklyn Bridge.

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