After cutting a $450 million deal with Facebook last weekend, Goldman Sachs began hand-delivering a 100-page document to a "select group" of potential investors on Thursday. Reports on what's in the papers — from the timeline for a potential IPO to Facebook's profits in recent years — are surfacing, further fueling speculation on the company's real value. Analysts are also wondering how the rapidly growing company compares to another little online concern that went on to produce some big investment returns: Google. Here, some data highlights:
$50 billion
What Goldman Sachs' "huge" $450 million investment valued Facebook at
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$2 million
Minimum investment, reportedly, for Goldman Sachs clients looking to invest in Facebook. The deal with Facebook is "very reminiscent of the Internet bubble," says one Goldman client, as quoted by The Wall Street Journal, who is leaning toward buying in. "You'd like to be a part of it."
$1.5 billion
The total worth of the "special-purpose vehicle" created by Goldman Sachs to allow clients to buy into Facebook
$775–$777 million
Facebook's approximate revenue in 2009, when it was five years old, according to a Forbes report on the leaked financials
$200 million
Facebook's profit in 2009, according to Forbes
$1.5 billion
The revenue Google reported in 2003, when that company was five years old
$106 million
The profit Google reported in 2003. "Google's revenue was higher [in its fifth year], but it wasn't as profitable as Facebook," says Ben Worthen in The Wall Street Journal. "Also, it looks like Facebook is growing a little faster than Google was at the time."
25.7 percent
Facebook's 2009 profit margin, based on the leaked financials. "A profit margin of 25.7% is nothing to scoff at, particularly for a young company in a fast-growing industry," says Steve Schaefer in a different Forbes piece. "But it's not exactly head and shoulders above every other company either."
$2 billion
Facebook's approximate revenue in 2010, more than twice what it earned in 2009, according to Forbes
$500 million
Facebook's profit in 2010, according to Forbes
3.4 percent
The amount Goldman Sachs shares are up since Monday, after the company's deal with Facebook was first reported on Sunday
$174
The price Goldman shares closed at Wednesday, a high not reached since April 2010
120
Days into 2012 that Facebook will be given before it is obliged to go public — assuming (as the leaked document suggests) that it will exceed 499 investors in 2011
Sources: Forbes (2)(3), Business Insider, The Wall Street Journal (2)
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