Facebook: Cyndx Company Spotlight
When Mark Zuckerberg launched the social network “The Facebook” in Harvard’s dormitories in 2004, few suspected the site would reach the coups it has. Now, as arguably one of largest corporations in the world, with over 1.5Billion daily active users, “Facebook” (renamed in 2005) has globalized opinions and connected the world. For better and for worse, this tech and media behemoth acts as the primary communication tool for people around the globe to share daily social updates, to express political and ideological beliefs, and to meme-ify content to viral sensations.
15 Years of Facebook
Throughout the last 15 years, Facebook has reached several milestones that can be acknowledged to have added to its timely success. Here is a quick run-down of some key dates in Facebook’s history
2004
- TheFacebook launches to connect students at Harvard University
2006
- Facebook launches the Newsfeed to reduce “bouncing” from profile to profile
- Facebook became available as a social platform for ages 13+
2008
- Sheryl Sandberg joins google as COO
2012
- Acquisition of Instagram for $1B
- IPO @ $38 / share
2014
- Acquisition of Whatsapp for $19B
- Acquisition of Oculus VR for $2B
2015
- Facebooks reaches 1 Billion users per day
2016
- Introduction of Facebook Reacts
- Accusation by Gizmodo of suppressing conservative news
2017
- Announcement of Russian Troll Ads impacting US 2016 Election
2018
- Cambridge Analytica scandal: huge leak of user data without knowledge
Facebook Metrics
As with most public companies, financial metrics lie at the heart of gauging Facebook’s performance. Below, are some key metrics for Facebook for last 12 months
(ending 31 December 2018):
Operating Income: $24.91B
Sales: $55.84B
Market Capitalization: $487.32B
EPS diluted: $7.57 per share.
(This is the $ amount of profit allocated to each individual share.)
Some other metrics to also recognize are
Headcount: 35,587, an increase of 42% year-over-year.
Monthly active users (MAUs): 2.32 billion, an increase of 9% year-over-year.
Most Recent Acquisition
Chainspace
On Feb 4, 2019, Cheddar announced Facebook’s acquisition of Chainspace, which is a distributed ledger platform that uses smart contracts and offers transparent processing of transactions. It can be speculated, especially after Bloomberg’s December report, that Facebook may be creating its own cryptocurrency that could be used in Whatsapp (its popular instant messaging service).