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Report: Facebook IPO Off 'Til 2012

Facebook's aversion to going public is well known, and, if sources are correct, the social net will indeed put off an IPO until at least 2012, Bloomberg reports. Three people familiar with the matter tell Bloomberg that chief exec Mark Zuckerberg more wants to grow Facebook's user base and sale revenue.

"Facebook would benefit from another year of growth absent the added scrutiny that comes with a public listing, instead of holding an IPO in 2011 as investors speculated," Bloomberg reports. "Waiting lets Zuckerberg, 26, hone the skills needed to steer a company that issues quarterly results while facing criticism on such matters as user privacy." Facebook, valued at $24.9 billion, recently surpassed 500 million users. Sources tell Bloomberg that sales could double this year to $1.4 billion, up from $700 million last year. Investors predicted a Facebook IPO in 2011 after Jim Breyer, a venture capitalist and member of Facebook's board, said in January that the company isn't focused on a 2010 sale.

Read the whole story at Bloomberg »

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