Facebook Delays Going Public

Facebook has pushed back its stock market debut—expected to be one of the biggest in history—until late next year at the earliest. The social media giant's initial public offering had been expected by April 2012 at the latest, with some predicting it would go public by the end of this year. Mark Zuckerberg decided to delay the IPO to keep employees focused on product development instead of stock bonanzas, insiders tell the Financial Times.

"There’s really no reason to rush a deal,” a consultant who advised Google on its IPO says. "The company doesn’t need the money. It is a little easier to focus when you’re private. They’ll go when they’re good and ready, not before." The Facebook delay may be for internal reasons but the market downturn has delayed other tech sector IPO's, including Zynga's and Groupon's, Reuters notes. (More IPO stories.)