2012 Technology Year in Review: Facebook IPO (May)

On May 18, 2012, Facebook held its Initial Public Offering, which was valued above $104 billion, making it the largest in internet history. Stocks debuted at $38 each, which many considered as overpriced. Many problems plagued the IPO, including a delay due to computer failures at NASDAQ. In the aftermath, investors filed lawsuits against Facebook, Morgan Stanley (the primary underwriter), and NASDAQ. Recently, Morgan Stanley was fined $5 million for the incident. The delay resulted in some orders not going through, and when they did, investors already had lost millions of dollars in the process.