Popular technology blog Mashable is busy reassuring readers that Facebook doesn’t have any intentions of “de-friending” its millions of fans. Despite rumors swirling that the social networking site will be shutting down March 15, because CEO Mark Zuckerberg is calling it quits, Mashable reports that it’s received official confirmation from Facebook Director of Corporate Communications Larry Yu that the rumor is false.
Reads a recent Mashable posting: “We asked him via e-mail if Facebook was shutting down on March 15, to which he responded, ‘The answer is no, so please help us put an end to this silliness.’ He added, ‘We didn't get the memo about shutting down and there's lots to do, so we'll just keep cranking away like always.’”
And Facebook itself updated its status to read: “We didn't get the memo about shutting down, so we'll keep working away like always. We aren't going anywhere; we're just getting started.”
In early January, global investment banking and securities firm Goldman Sachs invested $450 million in Facebook, as first reported by DealBook. DealBook reveals that the deal values Facebook at $50 billion and that Goldman is also aiming to raise as much as $1.5 billion from its wealthy clients to invest in Facebook.
DealBook reports that Goldman clients received an unusual request in their inbox – an invitation to invest in Facebook, which industry observers say is likely to stage an initial public offering in 2012. According to DealBook, clients would have to invest a minimum of $2 million and would be prohibited from selling their shares until 2013.
Facebook eclispsed Google as the most-visited website in the U.S. in 2010, according to a recent report from research firm Experian Hitwise.
Edited by
Tammy Wolf