The New York Times > Technology > Google's Sale of Its Shares Will Defy Wall St. Tradition

The New York Times > Technology > Google's Sale of Its Shares Will Defy Wall St. Tradition "The stock offering, which is intended to provide about $2.7 billion in cash when it takes place later this year, is expected to give Google a market value on Wall Street of at least $30 billion and perhaps $50 billion or more. It will transform the two former graduate students who founded it less than six years ago into instant billionaires several times over.
Virtually everything about Google's decision to go public is a departure from standard practice.
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"Once again Google becomes the `nobody knows the answer' company," said Mitchell D. Kertzman, a longtime Silicon Valley executive and venture capitalist. "At first nobody knew when it would go public. Now no one knows what the results of their public offering will be."