WSJ - Mar 4 - The eventual IPO of Facebook could make its founder the world's richest twenty-something. "We're going to go public eventually, because that's the contract that we have with our investors and our employees," Mr. Zuckerberg said during a recent interview. But, he added, "we are definitely in no rush." Mr. Zuckerberg has passed up several opportunities to sell and make a killing. These include a $1 billion offer from Yahoo in 2006 and an overture from Microsoft that was worth a possible $8 billion or more. In October 2007, Microsoft invested $240M for a 1.6% stake plus some exclusive ad rights. By early 2008, Mr. Zuckerberg began to take steps to help prepare the company to go public. He expanded his management team, hiring Google executive Sheryl Sandberg as his No. 2 in March of that year. Any IPO timing is squarely in Mr. Zuckerberg's hands. He owns more than a quarter of Facebook's stock and controls votes for three of five board seats.

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