Facebook's botched IPO: Winners and losers

The social network's entry into the stock market is off to a disastrous start, and as the dust settles, it's clear some players made out worse than others

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Facebook's rocky debut on the stock market has taken another turn for the worse. Shareholders have filed lawsuits against the company and the banks handling its IPO, claiming that Facebook and its partners duped prospective investors. The suits cite a Reuters story reporting that Morgan Stanley, the chief underwriter of the IPO, lowered its forecast for Facebook's revenues just before the IPO and shared that information with only a handful of its big-time clients. Government regulators are also investigating Morgan Stanley on suspicions of foul play. Meanwhile, Facebook shares remain well below the starting price of $38, a sign that investors are not as keen to own a piece of the company as the pre-IPO hype suggested. But not everyone involved in the IPO is having an absolutely horrible week. Who won in the Facebook IPO and who lost?

WINNERS

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us