Facebook Now Worth More Than Dell, eBay, Yahoo or Starbucks on Paper

http://mashable.com/2010/09/23/facebook-worth/

Did you know that Facebook is worth more than Research in Motion, Starbucks, Dell, Yahoo, Adobe, Intuit or eBay? That's according to a wide variety of investments and valuations that have shot Facebook's stock into the stratosphere.Although Facebook is a private company, investors have been buying and selling shares of the Silicon Valley darling in private transactions and through services such as SecondMarket and SharesPost for some time now.Facebook's actual value depends on who you ask, though. Forbes thinks it's worth $23 billion. SharesPost pins its value at $26.3 billion. And finally, The Financial Times says it's a $33 billion company.These valuations are based on real-world trades and transactions. Still, you can't help but be bewildered by Facebook's soaring worth. In February 2009, Facebook valued itself at $3.7 billion. By November 2009, it tripled to $9.5 billion. And since then, it's more than tripled again in value, if you rely on these private transactions for Facebook's valuation.Facebook's Value in PerspectiveLet's reflect on Facebook's $33 billion valuation relative to publicly traded companies. If Facebook is worth $33 billion (just play along), then what companies does it trump in value? We wondered that too, so we referred to the NASDAQ to find out.While Facebook still has a ways to go before it surpasses Google, Microsoft or Apple, it does beat or even dwarf some of the world's most iconic companies. Oh, and we're talking about companies with tens of thousands of employees (for comparison, Facebook has roughly around 1,500).Here's a short list of the companies that are worth less than Facebook, as well as their current market capitalizations:eBay: $32 billionCostco: $27.5 billionResearch in Motion: $26 billionDell: $23.8 billionStarbucks: $19.2 billionYahoo: $19.1 billionStaples: $14.8 billion Intuit: $14.3 billionAdobe: $14 billionHeck -- Yahoo and Adobe could announce a merger and its value would barely equal the value of Facebook. If you divided Facebook's worth between its 1,500 employees, you'd end up with $22 million per employee. Note that eBay has 15,000 employees and Starbucks has more than 120,000.Breaking Down the NumbersWe're not here to rip on Facebook or say that it is not worth $23 billion... or $26 billion... or $33 billion. We're here to put those numbers in perspective, though.Facebook is still a private company that hasn't completely figured out the profit equation. While it should surpass $1 billion in revenue this year, its infrastructure costs are also high.eBay, while not as sexy, brought in $2.215 billion in revenue during just the second quarter of this year.Facebook is benefiting greatly from both hype and high expectations for its future ability to generate revenue and dominate markets. There are legitimate reasons for the optimism and high valuation, though: it has more than 500 million users, rapid growth and Silicon Valley's best and brightest talent. It would be silly not to applaud Facebook for everything it has done, and all signs point to its value continuing to go north, not south.
Here's our word of caution, though: Facebook's ultimate worth won't be established until the day it has its IPO. There's a lot that could happen between now and then. Until that time, don't forget to put Facebook's rapidly growing valuation in perspective.Image courtesy of InfostheticsFor more Business coverage:Follow Mashable Business on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Business channelDownload our free apps for iPhone and iPad

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