TechBiz

By Nancy Miller

Where were all those analysts before Facebook (FB) went public?

You know the ones I’m talking about – the ones who are suddenly saying that Facebook is worth less than $60 billion, or about $21 a share, and perhaps as little as $30 billion. Even after a three-day weekend in the U.S. to celebrate the sacrifices the military has made to protect our freedom, a few of us may still remember the sacrifice made on the altar of capitalism when Facebook sold shares in the public markets for the first time at a whopping $38 – or about $104 billion. That was a mere 10 days ago. 

By Merrill Goozner

There’s no shortage of losers in the Facebook IPO: Mutual funds that didn’t get the insider tip about the company’s sliding prospects; starry-eyed individual investors who jumped at the chance to buy shares above $40 in the first few frothy hours of trading; and the reputation of the investment banking industry, which gave the general public one more reason to believe the stock market is nothing more than a rigged casino favoring the house – their house.

But after searching high and low, we’ve finally turned up two big winners from Facebook (FB) going public: the U.S. Treasury and the state where Facebook executives and key employees reside – California. Those governments will reap an estimated $4.6 billion in income taxes due from insiders who received over 400 million shares of stock as part of Facebook’s 2005 equity compensation plan. Stock distributed under such plans is taxed as ordinary income. 

By Therese Poletti

 

The recent comeback of the tech IPO is over.

 

Gone, up in smoke, after the debacle that was the highly-anticipated-b​ut-ultimately-botche​d $16-billion debut of Facebook (FB)

 

As more gory details and a parade of lawsuits materialize, it is clear that the whole fiasco will likely further discourage investors -- even those big institutions accustomed to risk -- from participating in initial public offerings, especially tech deals.

 

A small device by a start-up company called Leap Motion lets users control their computers using 3D air gestures, meaning the stylish finger flicks and arm waves associated with the futuristic computers in "Minority Report" and "The Avengers" are coming soon to a device near you.

Here's what you should know about the cool new tech that has the blogosphere hyped.

 

In the aftermath of Facebook's (FB) IPO, Microsoft (MSFT) quietly launched its own experimental social network called "So.cl" (which it insists is pronounced "social," defying phonetic reason) over the weekend. The software giant calls it an "experiment in open search," and intends the service to supplement existing social networks rather than replace them. What does that even mean?  (Microsoft owns and publishes TechBiz, an MSN Money site.)

 

Here, a brief guide to the new kid on the block: