Facebook raises $16 billion in IPO

Facebook raises $16 billion in IPOSocial networking giant, Facebook said on Thursday that it raised $16 billion for itself as well as for its early investors in an initial public stock offering.

The initial public offering, which was expected to value the firm close to $100 billion, valued the social network at about $104 billion, which is more than companies such as Kraft, Walt Disney and McDonald's. It is a big achievement for the company that started eight years ago and had no ways to generate income until recently.

The much anticipated Initial Public Offer (IPO) of social networking giant, Facebook opened on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his energetic team were on a cross-country road show aimed to promoting the social network's IPO.

Managing public money will be a new challenge for the young leader as well as his team. He is expected to please new stakeholders, including Wall Street investment firms, hedge funds and pension funds all of who will force him to keep the company growing.

According to regulatory filing, Facebook was aiming for a market value of as much as $96 billion and had offered shares at $28 to $35 each for its IPO. The company priced its IPO at $38 per share on Thursday which was on the top of expectations. The shares will begin trading on Nasdaq Stock Market with the ticker symbol FB on Friday.