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????六月份時，有人對我說Facebook計劃在勞動節(jié)（美國的勞動節(jié)是九月份的第一個星期一—譯注）前申請首次公開募股。這些人的消息來源是一位“Facebook內部人士”。自那以來，我已經從不下6位線人那兒，聽到上述傳聞的不同版本。不幸的是，這些人都不愿說出他們所謂的“內部人士”是誰，所以我也無法求證。更成問題的是，他們提到的IPO時間總是距離“現(xiàn)在”90天——不論這個“現(xiàn)在”是六月份還是昨天。 ????所以我已經習慣性的忽略這類傳言，特別是鑒于一直到明年5月份都沒有任何激勵性得監(jiān)管政策促使Facebook上市。此外，我仍然認為，F(xiàn)acebook將一直保持私營身份，只要美國國會能在今年休會之前修改500名股東這一規(guī)則（美國證券交易委員會相關法規(guī)規(guī)定，非上市公司的股東數量一旦超過了499就必須對外公布公司財務狀況——譯注）。 ????現(xiàn)在，我們有理由相信這家社交網站至少在12月之前不會提交S-1上市申請。 ????Facebook的首席運營官謝莉爾?桑德博格預計將在11月底召開的Business Insider Ignition大會上發(fā)言。假如Facebook屆時申請上市，那她絕不會同意在這次大會上露面。 ????美國證券交易委員會（SEC）并未禁止申請上市公司的高管公開發(fā)言，但是他們的言論將受到嚴格的審查。任何可能被視為搶跑的行為都是被禁止的。此外，關于公司的任何評論必須與Facebook上市登記文件中的表述完全一致。哪怕桑德博格只說錯了一個收入或用戶數字，F(xiàn)acebook將被迫修正申請文件，并重新發(fā)布。因此，申請上市期間，公司律師一般建議公司高管保持靜默，除非確是因為業(yè)務需要（比如公司推出了新產品等）。 ????所以，別指望Facebook會在今后90天內申請上市。然而，這之后的90天就說不準了。 ????譯者：項航 |
????In June, someone told me that Facebook planned to file for its IPO before Labor Day. Their source was a "Facebook insider." Since then, I've heard variations on the same hearsay by no fewer than six different sources. Unfortunately, none of them will identify their "insiders" for confirmation. More problematic is that the time horizon always seems to be 90 days from "now" -- no matter whether "now" is June or yesterday. ????So I've routinely ignored such rumors, particularly since Facebook doesn't face any regulatory incentive to go public until next May. Plus, I continue to think that Facebook will stay private indefinitely, so long as Congress eviscerates the 500-shareholder rule before adjourning for the year. ????And now we have good reason to believe that the social network won't file its S-1 before December at the earliest. ????Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer, is scheduled to speak at the Business Insider Ignition conference at the end of November. There is simply no way she would have agreed to this appearance if she expected her company to be in registration at the time. ????The SEC does not specifically prohibit executives on in-registration companies from speaking in public, but such statements come under extraordinary scrutiny. Anything that could be viewed as front-running would be off-limits, as would any company-specific comments that don't match up exactly to the information in Facebook's registration documents. Were she to misstate a revenue or user figure, the company would be forced to issue an amended filing. It's the reason that company counsel generally tells in-registration execs to stay quiet, unless there is a compelling business case to speak (new product launch, etc.). ????So don't expect Facebook to file for its IPO within the next 90 days. The 90 days after that, however, are fair game. |
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