Saving Face

Some investors in social networking giant Facebook are looking to cash out now while the getting is good, and I can't blame them:  a group of them are looking to sell their privately-held shares of the company that would rate Facebook's total worth at, oh, some $70 billion and change.

It would represent one of the largest transactions of Facebook shares to date and points to a growing wariness among early-stage investors and employees who fear Facebook's growth cannot keep pace with its market valuation.

The sellers have lowered their price after previously trying to offload shares at a price that valued the company at $90 billion, which would make Facebook more valuable than Time Warner Inc and News Corp combined. But buyers balked.

"At the current valuation where it is, it is really hard to justify the investment," said Sumeet Jain, partner at venture capital firm CMEA Capital, who has examined Facebook deals recently and has taken a pass. "It's hard to imagine it will turn into a $270 billion company in the next few years."

The current deal, which includes stock held by Facebook employees, is awaiting approval from top Facebook executives including Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and Chief Financial Officer David Ebersman, according to two sources.

Is Facebook the future of ubiquitous communication in the internet age, or is it the ultimate dot-com bubble stock?  Time will tell, but I'm personally going with the notion that the company's not going to really be worth hundreds of billions anytime soon.

Or ever.  Not without Facebook starting to charge money for it.