Facebook held its initial public offering on the Nasdaq stock exchange in 2012. The company began trading publicly on May 18, 2012, under the ticker symbol FB.
The offering attracted enormous attention because Facebook had become one of the world’s largest social networks before entering public markets. Its initial offering price was $38 per share, valuing the company at roughly $104 billion, although the first day of trading was affected by technical problems and heavy demand.
Facebook’s public listing allowed investors to buy shares in the company and increased scrutiny of its financial performance, advertising business, and user growth. The company later changed its corporate name to Meta Platforms in 2021, and its Nasdaq ticker changed from FB to META in 2022.
The IPO is distinct from Facebook’s later rebranding. The listing occurred while the company was still legally and publicly known as Facebook, Inc.