Randi Zuckerberg, elder sister of Facebook CEO Mark, left the social media giant last year, to start her own company called RtoZMedia. This didn’t stop her for being present for the ringing of the NASDAQ opening bell this morning in NYC, which brother Mark was notably absent from. Mark Zuckerberg kicked off the IPO from Facebook’s Menlo Park headquarters earlier today. Facebook CFO David Ebersman was also on hand on the NASDAQ floor this morning. Incidentally, media-savvy Randi is also executive-producing a reality show on Bravo called Silicon Valley.
As for brother Mark, his Facebook has sold 421.2 million shares at $38 a pop during the IPO. Zuckerberg owns 503.6 million shares and options, valued at $19.1 billion, which makes him the 29th richest person in the world, and wealthier than Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Thing is, some say there is not set guarantee that Facebook could quickly devolve into Myspace. Unlikely.
Facebook didn’t perform as well as some expected in the market today, though an insider had pointed out that there might’ve been a but of a communication problem early on that might’ve delayed sales from the start. Apparently, Nasdaq was having a problem notifying big banks that sales were even going through. On a smaller level, a lot of smaller-time investors were likely running into this sort of error message today:
Still, it’s evident that today’s numbers can’t really be taken as a gauge to how Facebook stock will ultimately perform. For more extensive coverage on Facebook’s IPO, go here.