When in Doubt, Cash Out

The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that 57 percent of stock Facebook will sell in its initial public offering will come from investors, 43 percent from the company’s own printing presses, as it were. When Google went public, 28 percent came from investors. I found this interesting. Right now the stock’s value is riding on the magic carpet of expectations. Once the company is public, the price will be determined by Facebook’s ability to draw in advertising revenues. A story in the New York Times this morning suggests that beyond GM’s withdrawal of its ad spending from Facebook, others are contemplating doing the same—and that the banks backing Facebook have similar concerns. Somebody is certainly cashing out—six of ten of the owners…