Facebook IPO will vastly increase Zuckerberg's wealth

In a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Facebook said it will sell 337.41 million shares and the initial public offering (IPO) price will be between USD 28 and USD 35 per share.

At this range, the company will be valued at between USD 77 billion and USD 96 billion.

Zuckerberg, who held a total of 533.8 million shares, would sell 30.2 million shares garnering about USD 1.05 billion in cash at the high end of the range. His remaining 504 million shares will make him worth USD 17.6 billion if Facebook hits the top of its IPO range.

The pricing indicates Zuckerberg's total holding is worth about USD 18.68 billion making him richer than Microsoft Corp's Steve Ballmer and Wipro's Azim Premji.

The IPO would further enhance Zuckerberg's financial position. According to Forbes 2012 list, Facebook's co-founder scored 35th rank with a wealth of USD 17.5 billion.

Ballmer had net worth of USD 15.7 billion, while Premji's was USD 15.9 billion, as per Forbes.

Zuckerberg, who started Facebook from Harvard dorm room in 2004, would retain voting control of 58.8 per cent of the company after the IPO and plans to use the proceeds to cover taxes.

In 2011, Zuckerberg took home USD 1.49 million. He had a base salary of USD 483,333 in 2011, but it would decline to just USD 1 next year, on his request.

Besides, social network's early investors James Breyer of the venture capital firm Accel Partners, who's offering 38.2 million shares. Other stockholders who would be offering shares would pocket USD 1.33 billion.

In addition, Goldman Sachs is unloading 20 per cent of its stake, or 13.2 million shares would take home USD 462 million.

Facebook, which is expected to go public on May 18, is likely to raise about USD 11 billion through the IPO at the upper end of the price band. The stock would be listed on Nasdaq under the symbol 'FB',

With 901 million users as of March 31, 2012, Facebook is the most popular social networking site in the world and a magnet for advertisers.

It's much anticipated IPO is expected to shadow that of other tech giants like Google which had raised USD 1.9 billion and valued the company at about USD 23 billion when it went public in 2004.