• The Guardian (UK), Wednesday, June 23, 2010 12:03 PM

All the criticism recently directed toward Mark Zuckerberg doesn't seem to have humbled the young CEO. On the contrary, Zuck is boldly predicting it is "almost a guarantee" that Facebook will reach 1 billion members -- up from more than 500 million, today. In slightly more measured words, according to the Guardian, Zuck said this week at Cannes: "If we succeed [in innovating and remaining relevant] there is a good chance of bringing this to a billion people... it will be interesting to see how it plays out."

By Zuck's calculations, "We are down to just four countries where we aren't the leading social network." Those countries include Russia, Japan, China and Korea. In Russia, Facebook had just 1 million users, but member numbers are "doubling every six months," according to Zuckerberg. As for whether Facebook will ever get around to filing for an initial public offering, Zuck said: "At some point, sure."

Read the whole story at The Guardian (UK) »