With Facebook’s stock trading at $17.73 a share
just after Labor Day 2012, down more than half from the IPO issue-price of $38,
further downward pressure was anticipated due to the upcoming expirations of
the lock-up. Employees would be able to cash in approximately 220 million
shares at the end of October, 780 million shares in mid-November, and still
more in December and then in the following May 2013. Experts were not putting
much stock in Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to hold onto his options for at least
a year. Rather than trying to assess the impact of the downward pressure on
where the price might go, a business ethicist would be apt to notice a subtle
point of fairness by class pertaining to when the options can be sold.
The full essay is at Taking the Face Off Facebook, available at Amazon.
The full essay is at Taking the Face Off Facebook, available at Amazon.