You Have Been Invited to Facebook's IPO

After months of speculation, it seems that Facebook is finally ready to file papers for an initial public offering next week. In addition, it is close to choosing Morgan Stanley to be the lead underwriter for the IPO. The IPO could be filed by Wednesday, February 1, according to the

. Facebook is looking for a valuation between $75 billion and $100 billion. If Morgan Stanley is the lead underwriter, that might well come as a surprise to many, considering that Goldman Sachs has overseen the process from the beginning. To bring in Morgan Stanley could be seen as a slap in Goldman's face. Still, lead underwriter or not, Goldman Sachs is expected to play a part in the deal. There will be significant fees passed around more than one investment bank. However, Morgan Stanley is far from confirmed and, at the time of writing, spokespeople for both Facebook and Morgan Stanley were declining to comment. The IPO is expected to raise as much as $10 billion, and it is being considered a defining moment for the web investing boom. Facebook has evolved into an enormous institution, grabbing the baton out of the hands of Myspace without asking permission and completely revolutionizing the way people communicate. It has taken its time making the move into the public arena, as well it should. As soon as it goes public, Facebook becomes something else. It becomes an entity that will be assessed and picked apart on a regular basis, with every little detail published. The bigger picture, though, is that Facebook will be seen as something bigger. No longer the personal project of Mark Zuckerberg and his pals, Facebook will be perceived as a real, serious company. Certainly, it is showing no signs of slowing down and, while it makes the occasional modification that is not particularly popular, it is in the enviable position of being able to reverse those changes almost immediately. For the sake of convenience, few people will switch their online social networking of tool having already been through that with Myspace. So all in all, the future looks bright for Facebook.