Don’t count on getting your Facebook shares anytime soon: The social network’s $450 million investment from Goldman Sachs and $50 million from Digital Sky should give it enough cash to delay an initial public offering. It’s just the latest sign of active markets for closely held companies—Mark Zuckerberg is able to attract investors while retaining near complete control of his company and heading off government regulation. Twitter, Zynga, and Groupon have adopted similar tactics. Facebook will probably go public eventually: Federal law requires companies with more than 500 investors to make an IPO.
Read it at The New York Times
