Social-networking giant Facebook is likely to go public by the first quarter of 2012, according to various news reports. A CNBC report cited people familiar with the matter and referred to a section of the 1934 Securities and Exchange Act that mandates a private company with more than 500 investors to begin releasing quarterly financial information, just like public companies. Facebook has indicated that it will cross that threshold this year, leading to speculation that the company will finally go public as a result.

The CNBC report pegged a Facebook IPO valuation as potentially topping $100 billion, which is a staggering figure to say the least. Indeed, "only a couple dozen U.S. companies," like Exxon Mobil and GE, have achieved a stock market value of more than $100B, observed The Wall Street Journal.

Other reports have heaped skepticism on the $100B figure however. David Dietze, president and chief investment strategist of Point View Financial, told CNBC in another report that a more reasonable valuation for Facebook would be $40 billion. Dietze also highlighted the slower growth of Facebook membership in recent months, which has been attributed to privacy scares and the novelty of the site wearing off.

The IPO of Facebook will be a closely watched event, given the stakes in social media and dot-com investing's past. Even an IPO of $40B will be history in the making.

For more:
- check out this article at The Wall Street Journal
- check out these two articles at CNBC
- check out this article at Daily Mail

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