Facebook valued at $104bn after IPO

Facebook raised $16bn (€12.6bn) in the biggest initial public offering by a technology company in history, pricing the shares at the top end of an increased range.

The social network, led by 28-year-old Mark Zuckerberg, sold 421.2m shares at $38 each.

The offering eclipses the 2004 IPO of Google, one of Facebook’s chief competitors for online advertising. Google raised $1.9bn in its initial share sale, including an over-allotment option. The shares sold at $85 apiece, giving Google (GOOG) a market value of about $23bn, or about 10 times sales in the 12 months through June 30, 2004.