Much anticipated Facebook IPO set to break internet flotation records

Facebook, the social-networking website that began eight years ago in a university dorm, last night filed to raise $5bn (€3.8bn) in an initial public offering.

Facebook, which now boasts more than 800 million users, did not specify the number or price of shares it will offer in a regulatory filing today. The $5bn amount is a placeholder used to calculate fees and may change. The company hired Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Goldman Sachs Group, Bank of America, Barclays and Allen & Co to manage the IPO.

Co-founded in 2004 by then 19-year-old Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook has grown into the dominant social-networking company, squelching competitors such as MySpace. Revenue in 2011 surged 88% to $3.71bn from a year earlier, according to the filing.