Touch the future. Now. HP TouchSmartIs Facebook ready to stuff its treasure chest with more booty?
Another day, another clump of Facebook financial dirt.
Kara Swisher at All Things Digital wrote early Tuesday that "according to sources," Facebook is considering the possibility of a massive new investment round. If this turns out to be true, it could lift the company's much-talked-about valuation even further into the stratosphere. Facebook's last investment round, a $25 million bounty in 2006, pushed its pre-money valuation to about $525 million. This rumored new round, which Swisher claims is "well beyond" that scope, could solidify Facebook's position in the $6 billion to $10 billion club (where, thus far, only speculation has placed it).
Swisher also speculates that Microsoft could be one of the potential players in this murky new investment round; Microsoft, after all, is responsible for the advertising contract that makes up a considerable chunk of Facebook's revenue, and it's also one of the names that pops up the most as buyout rumors surface and resurface.
"While its revenues are growing strongly, insiders report, so are its costs," Swisher's post explains, "as it ratchets up headcount and features and services. Thus, it will need a lot of investment to kept competitive, including increasing its international profile."
Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos. E-mail Caroline.
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