Facebook Shares Hit New Low

They drop 6% as some investors get first chance to sell
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 17, 2012 6:36 AM CDT
Facebook Shares Hit New Low
A man uses an iPhone to photograph the Facebook logo displayed at Nasdaq, Friday, May 18, 2012, in New York.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

More stock woes for Facebook: As some shareholders got their first opportunity to sell yesterday, shares plummeted to a new low of $19.69. By day's end, they'd settled at $19.87, a 6% plunge, the Los Angeles Times reports. It's not clear yet how many of the 271.1 million shares that became unlocked yesterday were sold, but analysts have their eyes on November, when the lock-up period expires on 1.2 billion shares. Until now, Mark Zuckerberg had told staff to ignore the stock prices, but at a recent meeting, he noted that watching investors flee could be "painful," the Wall Street Journal notes, saying Zuck is working to brighten the mood at the office.

He may need his own mood brightened: Bloomberg reports that Zuckerberg's fortune is at a new low since Facebook's IPO, the 28-year-old having lost $600 million yesterday. His net worth is now $10.2 billion. (More Facebook stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X