COMMENTARY | The days of Facebook playing nice with other technology and Internet companies might be getting ready to come to close. As CNNMoney reports, the Facebook IPO is getting close, and the company could raise nearly $14 billion and end up with a valuation in the $75 billion range. While investors and everyone on Wall Street is probably right in wondering whether Facebook is worth that kind of cash is a valid question, another logical one is: What does Facebook plan to do with all that money?
As CNet reports, Facebook bought a slew of patents from Microsoft already for a little over $500 million. The move was meant to give Facebook long-term protection in the intellectual property area. But patents are not the only thing that the big social network is buying up.
The Associated Press reported last month that Facebook spent $1 billion to buy Instagram, and now AFP is reporting Facebook has purchased Glancee, a startup that describes itself as a social discovery app because it helps bring like-minded people together. Those acquisitions make a lot of sense for Facebook because they give the company a solid ground to build the future on a mobile platform.
By handing Facebook even more cash, investors will be helping to fund a number of other purchases that will make the company stronger. Like a CNNMoney report, Facebook needs to optimize its mobile platform, and the cash will go a long way in making sure smartphones and tablets running the Facebook app will show some ads.
Whatever Facebook decides to do with the windfall from the IPO, the world can pretty much count on having at least one social network that has the possibility to branch out into other areas. Perhaps some Facebook hardware is in the wings or maybe the company even is looking to build out in more aggressive ways, either way the company will have enough cash to go on a major shopping spree.
