After months of speculation, hype and analysis, the venerable social networking giant Facebook today filed to go public.
Seeking $5 billion in shares with and 'FB' as a stock ticker, the company, started by Mark Zuckerberg in a Harvard dorm, is likely to give a much-needed economic boost to Silicon Valley and the State of California in general.
Morgan Stanley, which brokered the deal, fought off an attempt by four other major bookrunners to do the same.
When the deal is done, it will reportedly enshrine more than 1,000 employees with stock assets of $1 million or more.
Employees are Facebook's largest shareholders. Zuckerberg is the second-largest, and .
In an letter attached to the IPO paperwork, Zuckerberg said that Facebook's roots are in a desire to interconnect humanity, not start a business.
"Facebook was not originally created to be a company," said Zuckerberg. "It was built to accomplish a social mission — to make the world more open and connected."
