Facebook IPO: Did Goldman Sachs Give It Away to Morgan Stanley?

For most of 2011, spectators thought Goldman Sachs was in the pole position to lead the Facebook IPO. And then, Morgan Stanley came through and won the top (well, ‘lead left') spot. How did this happen?

Part of it is probably Morgan Stanley's internet prowess – it is the top bank in the business for the sector. The WSJ also wonders about Goldman's track record with Facebook:

Morgan may have also won out because Facebook was displeased with Goldman's botched $1.5 billion private placement in the company's shares in January 2011, in which the bank ran afoul of SEC rules and was forced to close the offering off to U.S. investors, Time said, citing previous reports.

Yup, it was that Goldman Sachs deal for its private client group, a little over a year ago, that sparked a year-long valuation run … and supposedly put Facebook over the 500-shareholder threshold.

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Source: WSJ

Photo: SD Dirk via Flickr