2011年6月13日

    CNBC财经频道：“据知情人士透露，社交网站Facebook很可能将于2012年第一季度上市，届时其估值可能会超过1,000亿美元。Facebook是全世界最受关注的未上市公司之一。”

    2011年6月28日

    《华尔街日报》“交易周报”（Deal Journal）博客：“几个月来，投行人士们挤破了Facebook位于帕洛阿尔托总部的门，希望能在这家社交网络公司进行首次公开募股之前，向其推销服务。Facebook预计将于明年春季上市，估值可能会达到1,000亿美元，华尔街的大银行都希望能从中分得一杯羹。”

    2011年7月14日

    《华尔街日报》：“如今，根据Facebook股票在二级市场的交易价计算，其估值约为840亿美元。有些人认为，如果Facebook明年上市，其市值可能达到1,000亿美元。”

    2011年9月14日

    《纽约时报》（NY Times）：“据知情人士周三透露，该公司仍计划于明年上半年公开上市。”

    2011年9月18日

    商业内幕：“一位与Facebook雇员关系密切的消息人士昨天向我们发邮件称，该公司员工之间流传的小道消息是‘Facebook将很快提交S-1上市申请文件，最早可能下个月就提交。’”

    更重要的是，昨天的那篇报道显然充满了不确定性。文章称，Facebook首席执行官马克•扎克伯格“尚未作出任何最终决定”，该公司也没有正式选定投行。那么这篇新闻到底新在何处？

    好吧，我理解“Facebook 上市”重磅标题的商业价值，它可以带来巨大的流量，让之前不关注此事的人纷纷转发相关链接（况且还有我这种人会专门为此写一篇文章——我知道这很有讽刺意味）。但是，在Facebook切实采取措施推进上市进程之前，我们就不能消停一点，少发点这类报道吗？最起码，能不能别给那些炒冷饭的家伙捧场帮腔？

    译者：小宇

    • June 13, 2011

    CNBC: "Facebook, the social-networking site that is one of the most closely-watched private companies in the world, is likely to go public by the first quarter of 2012, say people familiar with the matter, at a valuation that could be pegged at north of $100 billion."

    • June 28, 2011

    WSJ Deal Journal blog: "Investment bankers have been knocking on Facebook Inc.'s Palo Alto doors for several months already, pitching their wares to the social networking company, ahead of an initial public offering. The event is expected to happen next spring at a possible valuation of $100 billion. Wall Street's big banks all want a piece of it."

    • July 14, 2011

    WSJ: "Today, transactions of Facebook stock on private marketplaces value it at about $84 billion. Some people believe that if Facebook goes public next year, it will trade at a $100 billion valuation"

    • September 14, 2011

    NY Times: "The company is still planning to go public in the first half of next year, people close to the matter said on Wednesday."

    • November 18, 2011

    Business Insider: "A source close to Facebook employees emailed us yesterday to say that the rumor flitting from employee to employee is that 'a Facebook S-1 filing is coming really soon. Possibly as soon as next month.'"

    Moreover, yesterday's story is explicitly indefinite. It says that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg "hasn't made any final decisions," nor has Facebook formally selected bankers. So what is new here?

    Look, I understand the business value of a big "Facebook IPO" headline. It drives pageviews and gets link love from those who weren't previously paying attention (and, yes, I recognize the irony of this very post). But could we put a moratorium on these sorts of stories until Facebook actually takes a specific step toward listing? Or, at the very least, stop hyping those who rehash old information.