Via WSJ:
- On Tuesday, LinkedIn raised the expected offering price range for its shares to between $42 and $45 a share, up from its previous price range of $32 to $35 apiece. The higher offering price puts the valuation of the Mountain View, Calif., career social-networking company at more than $4 billion, up from about $3.3 billion previously.
- How LinkedIn's IPO performs on Thursday after it sets its offering price Wednesday night could signal the market's appetite for IPOs from other social-oriented Web companies, such as Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc., Zynga Inc. and Groupon Inc. Each has been in the grip of a recent private-market frenzy, with venture capitalists and other investors driving up their valuations in multiple financing rounds.
- Founded in 2002 by entrepreneurs including Reid Hoffman and funded by venture-capital firms including Bessemer Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital and Greylock Partners, the site allows people to post resumes and exchange messages and information with friends, colleagues and business contacts.
- LinkedIn makes most of its money from businesses that pay fees to recruit and to advertise their company. It claims more than 100 million subscribers worldwide.
- By any measure, LinkedIn's projected valuation is lofty. At $4 billion, its market capitalization is 258 times greater than 2010 profit. In regulatory filings, LinkedIn said it earned $15.4 million on sales that doubled to $243 million. Its registration statement forecast slower revenue gains this year and a loss due to higher expenses.
