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Gawker
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Financey
Sheryl Sandberg's Magic Facebook Finances
Facebook is already missing its CFO. Sheryl Sandberg, the social network's publicity-hungry COO now tells BusinessWeek that the money-losing social network is "profitable." Not because its revenues exceed its expenses, but because she says so! More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by skahammer: On the other hand, large one-time capital expenditures are probably smart moves in a startup's growth phase -- even though,... 3 Responses | Other threads
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rumormonger
Who's Leaving Facebook Next?
The wheels seem to be coming off at Facebook after the ouster of CFO Gideon Yu. We hear another executive is leaving the social network to spend more time with his family. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Pope John Peeps II: Where do these photos keep coming from? It looks like all the Facebook senior staff had their pictures taken at... 12 Responses | Other threads
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leaks
Mark Zuckerberg's Status Update: Paranoid as Hell
Is Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg hunting leakers? His internal memo about CFO Gideon Yu's departure got forwarded to bloggers. Perhaps he was hoping that would happen, and not just so his spin would get out. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by clipper: Geez, did this guy piss in your cheerios or something? 3 Responses | Other threads
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facebook
Resign, Mark Zuckerberg, Resign
It's time for Facebook to unfriend its 24-year-old college dropout CEO. Mark Zuckerberg had a decent run. But he's the wrong person at the wrong time to lead his social network through its growing pains. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by bmoreDLJ: I feel like he was smart enough to write the code for the Facebook matrix, but makes him a businessman,... 8 Responses | Other threads
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nerdspotting
Is Former Exec Still Tangled in Facebook's Web?
It's a day of high intrigue at Facebook headquarters, with CFO Gideon Yu leaving abruptly. So why was former COO Owen Van Natta, who left last year, spotted walking out of a Facebook office? More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by kazillion: Obviously, business isn't going so well for him, as evidenced by the Ikea pillowcase to his left. 1 Responses | Other threads
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exits
Cash-Crunched Facebook Loses Its CFO
One by one, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has driven away his cofounders and close confidants. The latest to go: chief financial officer Gideon Yu. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by dado: At least they all have a way to stay in touch. 5 Responses | Other threads
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facebook
Facebook's Cash Crunch
The more users Facebook attracts, the more money it spends — and it's not making it up in volume. That's why Facebook CFO Gideon Yu is reportedly on the hunt for more financing. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by downlow: I wish I could figure out how these companies are worth so much money. On what did Microsoft base that... 11 Responses | Other threads
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the chart
Facebook's new value: $1.3 billion?
With more than 120 million users, Mark Zuckerberg's social network continues to grow, kudzu-like. And yet it is worth far less today than the $15 billion it commanded a year ago. Why is that? -
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Mike Sheridan
Project Playlist hires a second ex-Facebook exec
A tipster tells us that Project Playlist, the online-music startup which has just hired former Facebook COO Owen Van Natta and raised $15 million, has hired Mike Sheridan as its CFO. Sheridan served less than a year at Facebook, where he was replaced by Gideon Yu. -
perks
Facebook buying Jack Spade computer bags for employees
A tipster reports overhearing two Facebook employees bragging about the Jack Spade computer bags bought for them by their employers. Facebook has some 700 employees; the Spade bags retail at the Apple Store for $99.95. If you figure Facebook got them for about half that price, it still shelled out $35,000 unnecessarily. Is this the kind of spending CFO Gideon Yu is trying to persuade Middle Eastern investors to underwrite?
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By Owen ThomasComment by Mike Malone: Wow you're way behind Owen. They've been giving these bags to employees for at least 18 months. More interesting though... 1 Responses | Other threads
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nerdspotting
Facebook CFO in two places at once
We've always been impressed by Facebook CFO Gideon Yu's ability to snooker investors around the world. The list of people he's taken for a ride include Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Hong Kong telecom mogul Li Ka-Shing. Just last Friday, he returned from a trip to Dubai, where he tried to shake loose some petrodollars from the Middle Eastern emirate's sovereign wealth funds. Some people seem to think Yu is still in Dubai. Which would be quite a feat, considering he's been spotted in Facebook's Palo Alto headquarters multiple times this week. Perhaps he's using CNN's new hologram technology?
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By Owen ThomasComment by insidefb: gideon is a master jedi. don't mess with him! more » | Other threads
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gideon yu
Facebook CFO's excellent Middle East adventure
Gideon Yu is flying back from Dubai today, we hear. His coworkers at Facebook are surely anxious to know what gifts he's bringing back — and we don't mean the duty-free kind. TechCrunch reports he was there on a fundraising mission. The Persian Gulf's sovereign wealth funds are swollen with petrodollars. But Yu's assignment was tough. Maintaining the $15 billion valuation Facebook obtained from Microsoft and Hong Kong investor Li Ka-Shing in the face of a declining advertising market will require a lot of Yu's demonstrated slickness. But if Yu can squeeze cash out of Bill Gates, surely he can navigate a Middle Eastern bazaar. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by macbeach: I wonder if all of these things, not just Facebook, are reaching a saturation point. They are fun to try, but... 1 Responses | Other threads
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mythbusting
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Why Facebook borrowed $100 million for servers
Technologists are instinctively averse to debt. The cycles are too swift and mistakes too punishing, the conventional wisdom says, to subject a startup to the burden of debt; cash is better spent on growth opportunities than interest. But Facebook has never followed the usual script for a startup, and its CFO, Gideon Yu, is no herd-follower, either. No wonder that the news that Facebook is leasing $100 million worth of servers, after raising a $360 million round of venture capital from Microsoft and Li Ka-Shing, is causing such a ruckus — and some misconceptions. Here are the instant myths that have arisen: More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Goose Spruce: Has anyone tried to figure out how to make money with social sites? more » | Other threads
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comebacks
Frank Quattrone's rebound relationships
Having cleared his name of obstruction-of-justice charges, former Credit Suisse tech investment banker Frank Quattrone is launching his own boutique firm, Qatalyst Partners. Several big Valley names volunteered quotes for the press release. It's not surprising that Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who's made his own moral missteps, would be forgiving of Quattrone. But Gideon Yu, Facebook's CFO, makes a more curious appearance. He gave a statement applauding Quattrone's partner Jonathan Turner, not Quattrone himself. But still, it amounts to an endorsement. Does Yu really think Quattrone did nothing wrong? Or, as a minister's son, is he just expressing the highest form of the Valley's belief in the power of redemption? -
careers
Facebook chef job a recipe for striking it rich
Remember Charlie Ayers, Google's first executive chef, who retired in 2005 after making millions of dollars on the Google IPO? All those cooks who passed on that job now have a second chance, according to Inside Facebook. After years of catering takeout lunches, the social network is hiring its own chef. With Facebook poaching so many Google employees who are used to chef-cooked meals, it's no surprise that they'd hire someone who knows how to poach eggs. But check out this curious line in the job description: "Be accountable for the financial aspects of the F&B department ensuring a profitable operation." Is penny-pinching CFO Gideon Yu insisting that employees pay for their meals? The full job description: More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by WillVille: OMG: Prepare to be stunned. I've figured out how Yahoo! and AOL can recapture their former relevance. Let Facebook employees catch... more » | Other threads
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gideon yu
Facebook moneyman aims to "take over world"
There are these small bands of people who are trying to take over the world. This is so much more fun than working at a hedge fund or an investment bank.
— Gideon Yu, having a Dr. Evil moment in describing his startup career as CFO at YouTube and then Facebook. [Portfolio] -
deals
Facebook raising $50 million or so, says board member
Yesterday, Accel Partners VC Jim Breyer, who sits on Facebook's board with Peter Thiel and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, made an offhand comment about Facebook's unfinished financing round. Microsoft has already put in $240 million, and Facebook's board has authorized sleepless CFO Gideon Yu to go raise another $260 million. Here's what Breyer said to Silicon Alley Insider: "$50 million, $100 million, $200 million." He said it with a shrug, but we think his insouciance was feigned. That's because Facebook already has a firm commitment in hand for that $50 million Breyer mentioned. The board is still deciding whether to take that money. -
facebook
Facebook funding round still open
A company is only worth what somebody is willing to pay for it. So after Microsoft paid $240 million for 1.6 percent of Facebook, the company's value on paper became $15 billion. Funny thing is, Facebook hasn't yet found another investor to agree to that number. The night Facebook signed its Microsoft deal, we reported a rumor that CFO Gideon Yu was close to bringing in another $500 million from private equity or hedge funds. Not true: the board had only authorized raising another $260 million. But even that hasn't come through yet. More »
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Comment by Filament: @DaveMcClure: That Facebook can do some all-cash deals doesn't invalidate Mizznike's point. If Microsoft overpaid (as they have a strong incentive... more » | Other threads
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deals
Facebook's hedge fund deals not signed yet
We picked up Dan Lyons's rumor as Fake Steve Jobs that Facebook has cajoled hedge funds into investing another $500 million, and noted that CFO Gideon Yu must never sleep. And Forbes, where Lyons has a day job, also called the deal complete. Not so, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal. The new investment will only be as much as another $260 million, making the total raised in this round, including Microsoft's money, $500 million. An announcement could come soon, but nothing's been signed yet. We know some VCs wanted in on this deal but hear it got too rich for them. (Photo by spcbrass)
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Comment by ThatKid: Too rich for VCs, but still somehow a good deal for hedge funds? At least Microsoft got an exclusive ad... more » | Other threads
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deals
Facebook CFO Gideon Yu never, ever sleeps. He's helping the social network raise another $500 million, on top of Microsoft's $240 million, from two hedge funds, at the same rich $15 billion valuation. Word is that some venture-capital firms were interested in buying into Facebook so they could get some of the buzz, but were priced out of the financing round. I wonder if Sequoia Capital, shut out of earlier Facebook rounds, was still trying this time. [The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs]
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By Owen ThomasComment by Sramana: I think Zuckerberg should make the valuation "real" by using the currency to acquire some real money-makers, and thus beef... more » | Other threads
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acquisitions
CBS eyes gossip site for $10 million
Why was a roomful of venture capitalists and lawyers clinking champagne glasses at Zibibbo in Palo Alto last week? The target of their fulsome praise was entrepreneur Anthony Soohoo, a former Yahoo executive. And the reason? He had managed to flip his website Dotspotter, yet another celebrity gossip site with thoroughly derivative social-networking features, to CBS for a quick $10 million. Dotspotter's short one-year lifepspan didn't scare off serial charmer Quincy Smith, the startup-mad head of CBS Interactive. Having bought financial videoblog Wallstrip and Web-based social music site Last.fm, we can only conclude that Smith's strategy is to buy a lot of startups, throw them against the wall, and see what sticks. Nice work, especially when CBS shareholders are footing the bill. And who's receiving the checks? One of Dotspotter's beneficiaries, we hear, is Facebook CFO Gideon Yu. Nice to have a backup plan in case all those social networks turn out to be a fad.
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Comment by Trackback: Here’s the latest: 1) Another Googler goes to Facebook, to head its developer platform 2) Facebook traffic apparently took a... more » | Other threads
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deals
How a cop almost kiboshed the Google-YouTube deal
Google's purchase of YouTube for $1.65 billion last year birthed the current climate of Valley exuberance. Without that purchase, it's hard to imagine seeing, for instance, Facebook valued at a lofty $15 billion. But we hear that the deal hit one last-minute, off-the-wall snag. More »
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Comment by Trackback: Gideon Yu, Facebook’s chief financial officer, has joined the board of directors of Vobile Inc., a startup that automatically identifies... more » | Other threads
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gideon yu
Target this man if you want a piece of Facebook
So, Facebook may be raising money at a multibillion-dollar valuation, according to Kara Swisher at AllThingsD. That sounds like it might be a bargain compared to the $10 billion valuation Facebook board member Peter Thiel had bruited about. You want in? Look to the finance and executive team, and start kissing major ass. Specifically, get to know Gideon Yu, Facebook's CFO. You know, the ex-YouTube CFO who was at Sequoia for one hot minute. Odds are, he's in charge of evaluating any potential investors, so make nice with him. Haven't met him yet? No worries! His Facebook profile is protected, from us, at least, but you can still send him a Facebook message to inquire about your potential participation. Or, if you're feeling saucy, give him a poke. It might be a good way to express your creativity and willingness to be flexible when hammering out that term sheet.
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Comment by GhostSites: @bbucy: I'm very glad that someone has finally come forward with a critique of dotcom CEO's hair. This is an... more » | Other threads
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facebook
Mark Zuckerberg demotes his No. 2 exec
Founders never share power willingly, gracefully, or for very long. That's a lesson that Facebook's Owen Van Natta should have learned at the knee of Jeff Bezos, when Van Natta was an executive at Amazon.com. Instead, though, he's been schooled in it by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who just demoted Van Natta from COO to chief revenue officer and VP of operations, Kara Swisher reports on AllThingsD. Zuckerberg's former No. 2, once trusted to attend the Sun Valley media-mogul conference in his stead, now shares key duties with a host of other executives. Here's a rundown on Van Natta's new rivals. More » -
hires
Facebook's financial fibber-in-chief
Peter Thiel's behind-the-scenes war with Sequoia Capital continues. The latest battleground? Gideon Yu, YouTube's former CFO, had planned to leave after the Google buyout of the online-video site to hook up with Sequoia as a partner. Instead, he's joining Facebook, the social network in which Thiel is an investor and a board member, as its CFO. It's a loss for Sequoia partner Michael Moritz, who has feuded with Thiel's Founders Fund. But it's undoubtedly a gain for Facebook. The social network, whose board members already like to play fast and loose with revenue figures, needs a CFO who's not above a little white lie. Like, say, YouTube's budget. Or what his career plans really are.
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By Owen ThomasComment by nocmonkee: Why can't I get in on these backdated options and creative press release profit mills. I really miss be... more » | Other threads
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