Facebook files for $5 billion IPO

Facebook has filed for an IPO of $5 billion, launching the process for its highly anticipated stock market debut.

With the social media giant finally arriving on the market, 27-year-old CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, along with his key stockholders, will become billionaires—and not just on paper. Based on secondary market trading, Zuckerberg’s 28.4% stake would give him a net worth of $22.7 billion and the value of Facebook will reach $80 billion.

“Facebook exists to make the world more connected, and not just to build a company,” Zuckerburg says. “Simply put: we don’t build services to make money; we make money to build better services.”

And following years of speculation, Facebook has revealed just how much money it generates. The company took in $3.7 billion in revenue in 2011, an 88% jump over 2010. Net income rose 65% in the past year to $1 billion, up from $606 million in the previous year.

The $5 billion IPO figure is expected to rise before the listing in May, making the social networking group’s debut the largest in the internet industry since Google.

Find out more about the offering, and why Facebook is worth $5 billion.