Mark Zuckerberg, the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of the world’s largest social networking site, Facebook has announced that the company is preparing for an Initial Public Offering (IPO).

The company is aiming to raise about $5 billion through the issue, which makes it the biggest IPO by an internet firm ever in silicon valley, even as the figure is about half of what was expected by many analysts in the market. The event will gather much interest in the Silicon Valley this year as Facebook joins many young firms in going public.

The company filling claimed that the company has 845 million users, which is about half of the total number of Internet users in the world. The company reported $1 billion in profits on $3.7 billion in revenue in the previous year, according to the filing.

According to estimates, the IPO will value the company between $75 billion and $100 billion. The filing did not reveal the number of shares that will be offered, the offering price, or the date they will be offered as the company is expected to announce more details in the coming weeks.

The filing showed Zuckerberg's control of the company with a share arrangement that gives him 57 percent of the voting power of Facebook stock. Zuckerberg has said that he will use that power for more goals than just maximizing the company’s profits.

A review process with the Securities and Exchange Commission will follow Facebook’s S-1 disclosure.