This is the VOA Special English Economics Report, from http://voaspecialenglish.com | http://facebook.com/voalearningenglish
Facebook is the
world's biggest social network. It has over nine hundred million users
worldwide. And it reported $3.7 billion in sales for last year. The company has
been privately held since two thousand four. That was when Mark Zuckerberg and
several classmates at Harvard University started Facebook as a business. But on
May eighteenth, Facebook becomes a publicly traded company. That means its
shares will be listed on the NASDAQ stock market, and sold to the public.
Interest in the stock kept building after Facebook announced details of its
initial public offering, or IPO, earlier this year. The IPO will make
billionaires of the company's founders, including Mr. Zuckerberg. Eduardo
Saverin, a Brazilian-born co-founder, has been strongly criticized for recently
giving up his United States citizenship. By doing so he will avoid a fifteen
percent tax on the value of his shares. He now lives in Singapore.Shortly before
the trading started, Facebook told the Securities and Exchange Commission that
it wanted to increase the number of shares being offered to over four hundred
twenty million. The company had earlier said it planned to offer three hundred
thirty-seven million. The starting price was set at thirty-eight dollars, also
an increase. Some financial experts say Facebook could raise sixteen billion
dollars, making it one of the biggest IPOs ever.Most of Facebook's revenue comes
from online advertising. But the company also says it expects to earn money from
fees charged on the sales of virtual goods. These are digital products used in
social games, not physical goods. Facebook says it sees important income coming
from this new market, which could reach fourteen billion dollars by twenty
sixteen.Not everyone is pleased. General Motors ended its advertising agreement
with Facebook just before the stock began trading. The carmaker said it did not
see results from the millions of dollars it spent on advertising with
Facebook.And Facebook has been criticized for some recent business decisions. It
offered one billion dollars to buy Instagram, an application for sharing
photographs. The deal requires government approval and has yet to be finalized.
So is Facebook worth the price of the stock? That will be for investors to
decide.For VOA Special English, I'm Alex Villarreal. You can read, listen and
learn English with more business stories at voaspecialenglish.com. (Adapted from
a radio program broadcast 18May2012)
원문출처 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETwbKz0oYSI&feature=youtube_gdata
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