Speculation is rife over whetherFacebookis planning to float on the
stock market after the exit of its Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Gideon Yu.
The company released a statement saying Yu will be leaving,
praising his contribution to the company and saying it is "well
positioned for the next stage of our growth".
It also says it is now looking for someone with public company
experience.
The statement says, "Facebook confirms that CFO Gideon Yu will
be leaving the company. Gideon has played an important role in
helping us achieve our financial success, building a strong finance
team and establishing the core financial operations of our company.
We are grateful to Gideon for his contributions to Facebook and
what we are trying to accomplish. Despite the poor economic
climate, we are pleased that our financial performance is strong
and we are well positioned for the next stage of our growth. We
have retained Spencer Stuart to lead our search for a new CFO and
will be looking for someone with public company experience."
The last sentence is the one that has boosted rumours of what
will happen next, with technology blogs such as
Tech Trader predicting an initial public offering (IPO), or the
first issue of shares.
Tech Trader also reports that former Netscape CFO Peter Currie
will advise the company until someone is found to fill the
spot.