After a long speculation and just a couple of days before its 8th birthday, Facebook unveiled it goes public with $5 billion IPO. It is expected to be Silicon Valley’s largest ever initial public offering, worth up to $100 billion when it goes public. However, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO will keep almost complete control over the social network.

Photo: Thumbs up, Facebook!, from www.wired.co.uk

He will own 56.9 percent of the voting shares of a company and have economic control of about 28 percent of the shares, ranking him among the richest people in the world, says Reuters.

Such company’s ownership structure differs from shareholder-friendly corporate governance practices traditional for investor businesses in the United States.

Facebook states in its IPO prospectus, Zuckerberg will «effectively control all matters submitted to stockholders for vote, as well as the overall management and direction of our company.»

The IPO prospectus unveils interesting figures. Facebook says it has 845 million monthly active users, generated $3.71 billion in revenue and made $1 billion in net profit last year, up 65 percent from the $606 million it made in 2010.

The underwriters behind Facebook are Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan. Other bookrunners included Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital and Allen & Co.

«We often talk about inventions like the printing press and the television,» Zuckerberg said in a letter accompanying the documents. «Today, our society has reached another tipping point. There is a huge need and a huge opportunity to get everyone in the world connected, to give everyone a voice and to help transform society for the future.»

The prospectus unveiled how of Facebook profited from advertising 2011—85 percent of their revenue was derived from ads. For example, social-gaming company Zynga, creator of Farmville, accounted for 12 percent of Facebook’s revenue last year.