Six Billion Isn't Enough To Sway Groupon's Founder

Is there any amount of money large enough to convince Groupon's founder, Andrew Mason, to sell his company? Maybe – maybe not. But one thing is for certain: $6 billion is not a very convincing number. Fearing that selling Groupon would harm employee morale and alienate business clients, Mason decided not to accept Google's

generous offer,

reports. But for a company that garnered $500 million in annual sales faster than Google and Amazon.com

, you have to wonder if his company's overall potential played a major role in Mason's decision not to sell. Wit 35 million registered users and deals offered in more than 300 markets, Groupon is already an empire. Next year, the company will decide if and when an IPO should be introduced. “It's a very healthy IPO market right now for companies that have proven business models, and Groupon clearly fits in that category,” Lise Buyer, founder of IPO consulting firm Class V Group in Portola Valley, California, told Bloomberg. However, Martin Tobias, CEO of Tippr.com, believes that Groupon should have sold to Google. “They are going to hope the honeymoon continues,” he said. “I've seen these things cool off quite quickly.”