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Separate article is required for Facebook Inc. like google Inc. as it has now filed for IPO and has is goining to be a listed company on Stock exchange.Company is different thing from a website. |
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{{About|the corporation|the website|Facebook|other uses}}
{{Infobox dot-com company
|company_name = [[Facebook Inc.]]
|company_logo = [[File:Facebook.svg|215px]]
|company_type = [[Publicly held company|Public]]
|foundation = [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], Massachusetts, United States ({{Start date|2004}})<ref name="Growth" />
|founder = {{Unbulleted list|[[Mark Zuckerberg]]|[[Eduardo Saverin]]|[[Dustin Moskovitz]]|[[Chris Hughes]]}}
|location = [[Menlo Park, California|Menlo Park]], California, U.S.
|locations =
|area_served = Worldwide
|key_people = {{Unbulleted list|[[Mark Zuckerberg]] (CEO)|[[Sheryl Sandberg]] (COO)|[[David Ebersman]] (CFO)|[[Donald E. Graham|Donald Graham]] (Chairman)}}
|industry = Internet
|revenue = {{Increase}} US$ 3.71 [[1000000000 (number)|billion]] (2011), up from $1.97b (2010)<ref name="sec.gov">{{cite web | url=http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1326801/000119312512034517/d287954ds1.htm | title=S-1 Registration Statement | publisher=Securities and Exchange Commission | date=February 1, 2012 | accessdate=February 1, 2012 | author=SEC}}</ref>
|operating_income =
|net_income =
|owner =
|num_employees = 3000+ (2011)<ref name="pressinfo">[http://newsroom.fb.com "Press Info"], Facebook. Retrieved November 17, 2011.</ref>
|parent =
|divisions =
|subsid =
|company_slogan =
}}
'''Facebook Inc.''' is an American [[Multinational corporation|multinational]] Internet company which runs the Social networking website [[Facebook]]. Facebook filed for an [[initial public offering]] on February 1, 2012.<ref name=form-s1>[http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1326801/000119312512034517/d287954ds1.htm]</ref>
==History==
{{Main|History of Facebook|Timeline of Facebook}}
Mark Zuckerberg wrote Facemash, the predecessor to Facebook, on October 28, 2003, while attending [[Harvard University|Harvard]] as a sophomore. According to ''[[The Harvard Crimson]]'', the site was comparable to [[Hot or Not]], and "used photos compiled from the online facebooks of nine houses, placing two next to each other at a time and asking users to choose the 'hotter' person".<ref name="autogenerated2007">{{Cite news |author=Locke, Laura |url= http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1644040,00.html |title= The Future of Facebook |newspaper =Time |location =New York |date= July 17, 2007 |accessdate= November 13, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=357292 |title=Hundreds Register for New Facebook Website |first=Alan J. |last=Tabak |date=February 9, 2004 |newspaper=The Harvard Crimson |location =Cambridge, MA |accessdate=November 7, 2008 |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20050403215543/http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=357292 |archivedate=April 3, 2005}}</ref>
[[File:MarkZuckerberg.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Mark Zuckerberg]] co-created Facebook in his [[Harvard University|Harvard]] dorm room.]]
To accomplish this, Zuckerberg [[Hacker (computer security)|hacked]] into the protected areas of Harvard's computer network and copied the houses' private dormitory [[ID card|ID]] images. Harvard at that time did not have a student "[[Facebook (directory)|facebook]]" (a directory with photos and basic information), though individual houses had been issuing their own paper facebooks in at least the mid-1980's. Facemash attracted 450 visitors and 22,000 photo-views in its first four hours online.<ref name="autogenerated2007"/><ref name="fastcompany.com">{{cite news |author= McGirt, Ellen |url= http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/115/open_features-hacker-dropout-ceo.html |title= Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg: Hacker. Dropout. CEO |work= Fast Company |location =New York |date=May 1, 2007 |accessdate= November 5, 2009}}</ref>
The site was quickly forwarded to several campus group list-servers, but was shut down a few days later by the Harvard administration. Zuckerberg was charged by the administration with breach of security, violating [[copyright]]s, and violating individual privacy, and faced expulsion. Ultimately, however, the charges were dropped.<ref name="facemash survives">{{cite news |accessdate=February 5, 2009 |url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=350143 |title= Facemash Creator Survives Ad Board |work=The Harvard Crimson |location =Cambridge, MA |date=November 19, 2003 |author=Kaplan, Katherine}}</ref> Zuckerberg expanded on this initial project that semester by creating a social study tool ahead of an [[art history]] final, by uploading 500 [[History of Rome|Augustan]] images to a Web site, with one image per page along with a comment section.<ref name="fastcompany.com"/> He opened the site up to his classmates, and people started sharing their notes.
The following semester, Zuckerberg began writing code for a new Web site in January 2004. He was inspired, he said, by an editorial in ''The Harvard Crimson'' about the Facemash incident.<ref name="Hoffman, Claire">{{Cite news |accessdate=February 5, 2009 |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/21129674/the_battle_for_facebook/ |title=The Battle for Facebook | newspaper=Rolling Stone | location = New York |date=June 28, 2008 |author=Hoffman, Claire |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080703220456/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/21129674/the_battle_for_facebook/ |archivedate = July 3, 2008 |deadurl=yes}}</ref> On February 4, 2004, Zuckerberg launched "Thefacebook", originally located at thefacebook.com.<ref name="skepticism">{{Cite news|accessdate=April 30, 2008 |url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118539991204578084.html?mod=googlenews_wsj |title=Judge Expresses Skepticism About Facebook Lawsuit |work=The Wall Street Journal | location = New York |date=July 25, 2007 |author=Seward, Zachary M. }}</ref>
Six days after the site launched, three Harvard seniors, [[Cameron Winklevoss]], [[Tyler Winklevoss]], and [[Divya Narendra]], accused Zuckerberg of intentionally misleading them into believing he would help them build a social network called [[ConnectU|HarvardConnection.com]], while he was instead using their ideas to build a competing product.<ref name="zuckerberghacked">{{Cite news |first= Nicolas |last=Carlson |title= In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg Broke Into A Facebook User's Private Email Account |date=March 5, 2010 |url= http://www.businessinsider.com/how-mark-zuckerberg-hacked-into-the-harvard-crimson-2010-3 |work=Business Insider |accessdate =March 5, 2010}}</ref> The three complained to the ''Harvard Crimson'', and the newspaper began an investigation. The three later filed a lawsuit against Zuckerberg, subsequently settling.<ref name=nytb>{{Cite news |work=New York Times blog |url=http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/26/judge-ends-facebooks-feud-with-connectu/index.html |date=June 28, 2008| title=Judge Ends Facebook's Feud With ConnectU |author=Stone, Brad}}</ref>
Membership was initially restricted to students of [[Harvard College]], and within the first month, more than half the undergraduate population at Harvard was registered on the service.<ref>{{Cite news |accessdate=March 7, 2008 |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/jul/25/media.newmedia |title= A brief history of Facebook |work=The Guardian |location= London |date=July 25, 2007 |author=Phillips, Sarah}}</ref> [[Eduardo Saverin]] (business aspects), [[Dustin Moskovitz]] (programmer), [[Andrew McCollum]] (graphic artist), and [[Chris Hughes]] soon joined Zuckerberg to help promote the Web site. In March 2004, Facebook expanded to [[Stanford University|Stanford]], [[Columbia University|Columbia]], and [[Yale University|Yale]].<ref name="timeline">{{Cite press release |accessdate=March 5, 2008 |url=http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?timeline |title= Company Timeline |publisher=Facebook |date= January 1, 2007}}</ref> It soon opened to the other [[Ivy League]] schools, [[Boston University]], [[New York University]], [[MIT]], and gradually most universities in Canada and the United States.<ref>{{Cite news |accessdate=June 13, 2008 |url=http://www.forbes.com/2006/09/11/facebook-opens-up-cx_rr_0911facebook.html |title=Open Facebook |work=Forbes |location =New York |date= September 11, 2006 |author=Rosmarin, Rachel}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.tuftsdaily.com/2.5541/1.600318 |title= Online network created by Harvard students flourishes |work =[[The Tufts Daily]] |first = Lananh |last= Nguyen |date= April 12, 2004 |location= Medford, MA |accessdate= August 21, 2009}}</ref>
Facebook was [[Incorporation (business)|incorporated]] in mid-2004, and the entrepreneur [[Sean Parker]], who had been informally advising Zuckerberg, became the company's president.<ref name="NYT_260505">{{Cite news | author=Rosen, Ellen | title = Student's Start-Up Draws Attention and $13 Million | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/26/business/26sbiz.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=thefacebook+parker&st=nyt | newspaper=The New York Times | date = May 26, 2005 | accessdate = May 18, 2009 }}</ref> In June 2004, Facebook moved its base of operations to [[Palo Alto, California]].<ref name="timeline" /> It received its first investment later that month from [[PayPal]] co-founder [[Peter Thiel]].<ref name="beware">{{Cite news |accessdate=April 30, 2008 |url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/general/beware-facebook/2008/01/18/1200620184398.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2 |title=Why you should beware of Facebook |work=The Age |date=January 20, 2008 |location=Melbourne}}</ref> The company dropped ''The'' from its name after purchasing the [[domain name]] facebook.com in 2005 for $200,000.<ref>{{Cite news |accessdate=June 13, 2008|url=http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/01/facebook_domain_dispute/| title=Facebook wins Manx battle for face-book.com |work =The Register | location = London |date=October 1, 2007|author=Williams, Chris }}|</ref>
==Offices==
[[File:1601californiaavelobby.jpg|thumb|Entrance to Facebook's previous headquarters in the [[Stanford Research Park]], [[Palo Alto, California]]]]
===Mergers and acquisitions===
{{Main|List of acquisitions by Facebook}}
On November 15, 2010, Facebook announced it had acquired the domain name fb.com from the [[American Farm Bureau Federation]] for an undisclosed amount. On January 11, 2011, the Farm Bureau disclosed $8.5 million in "domain sales income", making the acquisition of FB.com one of the ten highest domain sales in history.<ref>{{cite news |title=FB.com acquired by Facebook |url=http://namemon.com/news/1-latest-news/115-fbcom-acquired-by-facebook |date=January 11, 2011 |work=NameMon News}}</ref>
===Menlo Park executive offices===
In early 2011, Facebook announced plans to move to its new headquarters, the former Sun Microsystems campus in Menlo Park, California.<ref name="parr_ben_facebooks_new_offices_feb_2011" />
===Operations===
A custom-built [[data center]] with substantially reduced ("38% less") [[IT energy management#Server and data center power management|power consumption]] compared to existing Facebook data centers opened in April 2011 in [[Prineville, Oregon]].<ref>{{cite news |accessdate=April 16, 2011 |date=April 16, 2011 |title=Zuckerberg makes surprise appearance at new Prineville, Ore. Facebook data center |agency=Associated Press
|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/zuckerberg-makes-surprise-appearance-at-new-prineville-ore-facebook-data-center/2011/04/16/AFT4NamD_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |deadurl=yes}}{{dead link|date=May 2011}}</ref>
===Initial public offering===
Facebook filed their S1 document with the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] on February 1, 2012. The company filed for a $5 billion [[initial public offering]] (IPO), making it one of the biggest in tech history and the biggest in internet history.<ref>{{cite news |accessdate=February 1, 2012 |date=February 1, 2012 |title=Facebook Officially Files for $5 Billion IPO |agency=KeyNoodle
|url=http://www.keynoodle.com/facebook-officially-files-for-5-billion-ipo/}}</ref> The IPO will value Facebook between $75 and $100 billion.<ref>http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-01/zuckerberg-stake-worth-up-to-28-4-billion-in-facebook-s-ipo.html</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/facebook-files-for-an-i-p-o/ | work=The New York Times | first=Evelyn M. | last=Rusli | title=Facebook Files for an I.P.O | date=February 1, 2012}}</ref>
==See also==
{{Portal box|Companies|Internet}}
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Ambient awareness]]
* [[Cyberstalking]]
* [[Google Inc.]]
* [[List of social networking websites]]
* [[List of virtual communities with more than 100 million users]]
* [[Six degrees of separation]]
{{div col end}}
==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=N|30em}}
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
[[Category:Human–computer interaction]]
[[Category:Multinational companies headquartered in the United States]]
[[Category:Publicly traded companies of the United States]]
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