Facebook named a new CFO today, his name is David Ebersman. Ebersman has some prior CFO experience at other firms and should be a huge asset to Facebook. I think the question that we have all been wondering about will soon be answered, and that question is, “when will we see the Facebook IPO?”
I suspect that it’s going to take a few months, possibly even a year for the new CFO to get a grasp on everything that Facebook has going on. Let’s face it, from the onset Facebook hasn’t been your typical startup, they have been able to woo millions from angel investors and even pulled in way more than any web startup I have ever seen without facing up close and personal scrutiny from the government or SEC. To put it bluntly, I am surprised that they have existed this long w/out going public. The amount of money takes to fund an online community like Facebook would blow it’s users minds.
One other thing that I am going to be paying close attention to is how Facebook plans to make money. Sure, i know they have their ad sales, which are probably substantial, but probably not the complete answer. I think that they missed the boat on the whole “vanity url” thing, that could have been epic. Here’s the press release for those of you that might have missed it:
PALO ALTO, Calif. — June 29, 2009 — Facebook today announced that David Ebersman, the former executive vice president and chief financial officer (CFO) of Genentech, the pioneering biotechnology firm recently acquired by Roche, will become the company’s chief financial officer.
Ebersman will report to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Founder Mark Zuckerberg. He will oversee Facebook’s finance, accounting, investor relations, and real estate functions. He also becomes a part of the company’s executive management team, which directs all aspects of company strategy, planning and operations. Ebersman will formally start in September 2009.
“We received a lot of interest in the CFO position and had the opportunity to meet with many impressive candidates,” said Mark Zuckerberg. “We quickly recognized that David was the right person for Facebook. He was Genentech’s CFO while revenue tripled, and his success in scaling the finance organization of a fast growing company will be important to Facebook.”
“After meeting with Mark and the rest of the team, I was thoroughly impressed with everyone’s drive and sense of purpose to help people connect and share,“ noted Ebersman. “Mark is constantly pushing the company forward and he’s assembled a world-class team that is achieving remarkable results both for its users and as a business. I’m excited to join this effort and this new industry.”
Ebersman worked at Genentech for nearly 15 years. He served as the firm’s executive vice president and CFO from 2006 through April 2009, when Roche Group acquired the company. Prior to joining the company’s finance organization, he was senior vice president of Product Operations. He joined Genentech as a business development analyst. Previously, he was a research analyst at Oppenheimer & Company Inc.
Facebook | Press Releases
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