What’s next for facebook?

I was looking at an interesting chart by reface.com on ‘who owns Facebook’ and started thinking- these guys can really break out! Not just in social media, but strategically going after the markets that even Google is trying to dominate. So, this blog is really about two topics- Facebook value and ownership and what to expect from the company.

Ownership of Facebook is very interesting. Only about 4% of the company as a whole is owned by Goldman Sachs- including the recent $500 million investment. Facebook staff collectively holds the biggest stake at around $15 billion and the rest is a mix:

With a $50 Billion value, Facebook has the clout to do some really exciting things in the market- like have a mobile service. Estimating conservatively that 25% of Facebook users access the service through a mobile device every month, it’s a huge market to pitch and offer services. Facebook wants to interact with their subscribers using the mobile web and basically every mobile operating system. Whether or not that turns out to be what most mobile users prefer, its positioning in the mobile market is unique. As it has on the web, it hopes that it can be a new and valuable “social operating system” that co-exists with multiple platforms and increase their reach and revenue streams as a result. Facebook has been looking into location-based services for a few years now. What’s really interesting is that they are actively working with more than 180 carriers in 32 countries to form various distribution partnerships. Many of these carriers are in parts of the world where mobile devices are far more common than computers. Overall, Facebook has presence everywhere- it will be interesting to watch and see what new tools and services they bring to market!