Facebook had the 2012 IPO that was widely described at the time as the largest internet-company IPO.
Facebook priced its shares at $38 and began trading on Nasdaq on May 18, 2012, under the ticker FB. The offering raised about $16 billion and valued the company at roughly $104 billion, making it one of the biggest technology and internet listings ever. The first trading day was disrupted by Nasdaq technical problems, and the stock closed only slightly above its offering price.
Facebook's IPO filing revealed the enormous scale of the social network: it reported 845 million monthly active users and billions of daily likes and comments. Founder Mark Zuckerberg retained substantial control through Facebook's dual-class share structure.
The wording refers to the record as understood in 2012; later offerings and changing comparisons can alter rankings. Snapchat, LinkedIn and Twitter also went public, but none is the company identified with Facebook's landmark 2012 debut. Facebook's corporate parent later changed its name to Meta Platforms in 2021.