Facebook IPO 10 years later — new name, same CEO, familiar problem – CNBC

A decade ago, Facebook told the public markets that it was pouring money into smartphone apps because mobile usage was key to the company’s growth, even though it did “not currently directly generate any meaningful revenue” at the time.That was in the prospectus for its Nasdaq debut, which took place ten years ago Wednesday and resulted in the largest IPO ever for a U.S. tech company. Facebook’s $100 billion-plus market cap instantly made it one of the most valuable tech companies on the planet.But within three months the stock had lost roughly half its value as the market heeded Facebook’s warning. With consumers flocking to smartphones before there was a proven business model for ads on the small screens, investors worried that Facebook’s days of hyper growth were in the rearview mirror.We know how that worked out.Facebook is now more than 25 times bigger by revenue than it was in 2012. And by 2018, over 90% of ad sales came from mobile. At its market cap peak in 2021, Facebook was worth over $1 trillion, largely on the strength of its core mobile app as well as Instagram and WhatsApp, which it acquired.The company now has a new name, Meta.…
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