Watching Facebook drop by 20% shows you how much greed was involved in this inside deal.
It would be nice to think the deactivation of the Richardcyoung.com Facebook page and my personal account are part of the reason why the stock is falling. Many who try Facebook’s service are initially pleased but soon find it to be boring and tedious and head for the exit. The same is apparently true for the company’s stock. But nevertheless, I’ve been uncomfortable with Facebook from the beginning. The idea of telling people—I mean my “friends” who I have never even met—what I’m doing or my kids are doing has felt weird. And in terms of investing in the company, what is it exactly that Facebook does? Sell ads? I thought Google was doing that. Talk about spreading those crumbs around.
The IPO valuation slapped on this pig was absurd. The road show by CEO Zuckerberg was full of hubris on the part of all parties involved. The way they cashed out was like a mass exodus, leaving average investors stuck with the shares. How’s that for senior leadership from Facebook insiders? In his piece “7 Reasons Why Facebook IPO Was A Bust” Rich Karlgaard writes at Forbes.com:
2. Mark Zuckerberg’s disdain for investors. He never wanted to be a public company. This became all too obvious during the IPO road show’s crucial stop in New York when (a) Zuck hid out in the bathroom and forced the audience to wait, and (b) he took the stage wearing his hoodie. Zuckerberg’s view of shareholders is like President Obama’s view of blue collar workers. He needs them but secretly laughs at them.
You’ll want to read the rest here.
