马克•扎克伯格从来都不想让Facebook上市。他不想巴结那些对冲基金，不想回答成千上万股东的问题，也不愿披露盈利状况。

    与此对应的，华尔街也不信任扎克伯格。除非他能找到一些大牌的“监护人”，机构投资者并不想让扎克伯格带领Facebook上市。毕竟，二十来岁的毛头小伙哪里懂得运营市值数百亿美元的大公司？光想想他可能会犯的严重错误就让人头痛。

    不过扎克伯格也别无选择。考虑到公司的雇员薪酬策略，以及对公司股票在二级市场私下交易的欣然接受，上市已经是箭在弦上不得不发了。所以他听从建议，请来了一伙“监护人”。

    首先谢丽尔•桑德伯格被聘为首席运营官。几个月后特德•尤罗特作为首席法律顾问加入公司。最后，戴维•埃博斯曼在一场上天入地的大筛选中脱颖而出，作为具有“上市公司经验”的首席财务官于2009年上任。

    然后扎克伯格回到计算机桌前编程、制定战略，把他的寝室项目继续发扬光大，延伸到无所不在。“监护人”接管了枯燥的日常运营，他就可以旁观学习。

    以下两段节选自Facebook上市前几天的一篇美联社（AP）报道：

    扎克伯格和他的女朋友带着一只名为“野兽”的匈牙利长毛牧羊犬住在加州的帕洛阿尔托。通过一群经验丰富的导师的帮助，他已经成长为合格的公司领袖。2008年从谷歌挖来的谢丽尔•桑德伯格是他最亲密的顾问之一。这位来自广告业的主管思维敏捷，洞悉人情世故，恰好能弥补扎克伯格的短处——他在公众场合时不时的尴尬表现已广为人知。桑德伯格担任主管广告业务的首席运营官，作为公司的2号人物，她的招牌微笑已成为公司的公众形象。然后是唐纳德•格雷厄姆，这位《华盛顿邮报》（The Washington Post Co.）的首席执行官兼主席是扎克伯格的良师益友，并担任公司董事。

    丽贝卡•利布是Altimeter集团的分析师，她认为扎克伯格组建了一个“真正出类拔萃的副手”团队。来自Genentech的公司首席财务官戴维•埃博斯曼就是另一个例子。扎克伯格在2009年聘用他时宣称，埃博斯曼帮助那家快速成长的生物技术公司构建了财务体系，这一经验“对Facebook非常重要。”

    然而今天看来，这些导师可能已经将扎克伯格和他的公司引入了歧途。

    Mark Zuckerberg never wanted to take Facebook (FB) public. He didn't want to kiss hedge fund rings or answer to thousands of shareholders or disclose earnings.

    And, on Wall Street, the feeling was mutual. Institutional investors also didn't want Zuckerberg to take Facebook public unless he added some big-name "adult" supervision. After all, what does a 20-something know about running a multi-billion dollar public corporation? Just imagine the costly mistakes he would make.

    But Zuckerberg didn't really have much of a choice. Due to the company's employee compensation strategy, and its early embrace of private secondary market trading, he knew that going public was inevitable. So he did what he was told, and hired a bunch of "adults."

    First it hired Sheryl Sandberg to be chief operating officer. Then, several months later, Ted Ullyot joined as general counsel. Finally, David Ebersman was brought aboard in 2009 as chief financial officer, following an exhaustive search for a CFO "with public company experience."

    Then Zuckerberg went back to his desk to code, strategize and somehow make his dormroom project even more globally ubiquitous. His "adults" would take care of the boring legwork, and he'd learn some things by watching them.

    From an AP story just days before Facebook's recent IPO:

    Zuckerberg, who lives in Palo Alto, Calif. with his girlfriend and a white Hungarian Puli dog named Beast, has matured as a leader with the help of experienced mentors. One of his closest advisors is Sheryl Sandberg, who he hired away from Google in 2008. Zuckerberg, known for sometimes-awkward public appearances, realized that the razor-sharp, people-savvy advertising executive complements his own shortcomings. Sandberg is Zuckerberg's No. 2, the chief operating officer who oversees advertising and often serves as Facebook's smiling, public face. Then there's Donald Graham, the 66-year-old CEO and chairman of The Washington Post Co., who serves as a mentor to Zuckerberg and holds a seat on Facebook's board of directors.

    Rebecca Lieb, analyst at the Altimeter Group, says Zuckerberg has assembled a team of "truly exceptional lieutenants." David Ebersman, Facebook's chief financial officer, who hails from biotech firm Genentech, is another example. Zuckerberg hired him in 2009, saying that Ebersman's previous job, helping to scale the finance organization of the fast-growing biotech company "will be important to Facebook."

    Today, however, it seems that those mentors might have led the kid, and his company, astray.