Stock Market: Facebook Valuation Breaks Records

Stock market records were effectively shattered when Facebook’s valuation rose to an insanely impressive $104 billion, which is more than any company on its first day on the market. What’s more, the virtual house that Zuckerberg (and friends) built is the second largest initial public offering in history, bested only to the folks over at Visa.

Speaking of Zuckerberg, the man himself will ring the Nasdaq bell this morning, though in a most untraditional fashion. Instead of being on-site to claim the honor, Zuckerberg will ring it from the Facebook HQ in California. When he pushes the proverbial button to signal the start of the day, he will be surrounded by a small cluster of co-workers who will, no doubt, be celebrating the fact that a large portion of them will be instant millionaires.

A whopping 421 million shares Facebook (FB) shares will begin trading at 11am today (May 18th) for $38 a piece.

In anticipation of the company’s IPO, Facebook employees held an all-night “hackathon”, an event where ideas — outrageous and otherwise — are pushed into development. Several of the features that users take for granted were conceived, constructed, and implemented during these sessions, including Facebook’s chat system and an early version of the Timeline.

Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. will hold a two-hour conference call beginning at 10:15am to keep industry types up-to-date with anything and everything involved with the Facebook IPO.