Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), the world’s largest social networking website, completed its tenth year. Over the time period, Facebook has been applauded by many for innovative features, and criticized by some over a range of topics like security and privacy issues. Let’s take a look at the journey so far:
Facebook: from dorm room to board room
The social networking site was founded by Mark Zuckerberg on February 4, 2004 in a dorm room with Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes and Eduardo Saverin. In its first 18 months, the site was called The Facebook. Before creating Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), Zuckerberg created a website known as Facemash.com, where photographs of Harvard students were posted in pairs, and comment was invited “hot or not.” Harvard students did not like the website and forced Zuckerberg to close it, and was dragged in court by the Winklevoss brothers, who claimed that Zuckerberg stole their idea of ConnectU to create Facebook.
Zuckerberg was offered a job from Microsoft and AOL before entering Harvard to become the youngest self made billionaire at the age of 23 as said by Forbes. In 2012, Zuckerberg admitted that he has many grey t-shirts, and wearing a similar thing every day allows him to concentrate on one less thing. Zuckerberg is also on Twitter with around 300,000 followers and has not posted anything on the website since 2012. Zuckerberg’s dog Beast has a Facebook page with 1.7 million fans.
Turned down many, picked up a few
In 2004, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) got an investment from PayPal founder Peter Thiel of around $500,000 in exchange of 10.2% share of Facebook. Before this deal, Zuckerberg declined the deal of a New York financier, who wanted full control of the company by paying $10 million. Internet giant Yahoo proposed Facebook $1 billion in 2006, but Zuckerberg turned down the offer, and it was also in the news that board of the company would have forced him to sell the company if only the Yahoo increased its amount to $1.1 billion. Other major shareholders of Facebook are Parker (4%), Zuckerberg former Harvard roommate Dustin Moskovitz (7.6%), Eduardo Saverin (4%) and Microsoft (1.6%), which invested $240 million in Facebook in 2007.
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) bought Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion, and claimed that it would be a milestone buy. The social networker also offered Snapchat $3 billion, but Snapchat turned down the offer. The social networking site has launched products like Beacon which was a big flop.
There have been concerns lately that the social networking site is losing its ground among teenagers, however, the site has 1.19 billion monthly active users, and is strongly building its mobile user base.
