Facebook’s 2012 IPO became the largest technology IPO in history at that time.
Facebook filed its IPO registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on February 1, 2012, and began trading on Nasdaq on May 18 under the symbol FB. Shares were priced at $38, valuing the company at about $104 billion, then the largest valuation for a newly public company.
The offering raised approximately $16 billion, making it one of the biggest IPOs ever and the largest Internet offering at the time. It was also a landmark moment for social media, because Facebook was going public with hundreds of millions of users and enormous expectations for mobile advertising growth.
The launch was far from smooth. Nasdaq experienced technical problems, trading began late, and the stock struggled soon after opening. Facebook’s price fell below its offer price during the following trading sessions, prompting lawsuits and regulatory scrutiny. These problems do not change the answer: the question concerns the size and historical importance of the 2012 offering, not whether the stock performed well immediately afterward.