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by veyron 5151 days ago
As I mentioned here (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3954910) they are not forced to go public. Plenty of private companies with > 500 shareholders stay private precisely because they dont want to have to deal with wallstreet. Facebook could have chosen to do the same, but instead they chose to go public and engage with wall street.
2 comments
hkmurakami 5151 days ago
Perhaps they figured that there was no downside to going public, if they had to disclose their finances anyways? If Zuck has 56% of the voting power, and other former and current Facebook employees have significant shares as well, then it's quite possible that even with the IPO, Wall Street won't have much sway in the company's dealings regardless.

(I am personally a big fan of Costco for rebuffing Wall Street's cries for higher prices and lower worker compensation and benefits)

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mkopinsky 5151 days ago
Was the parent edited, or are you arguing a straw man?
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