Facebook's initial sale of stock on Friday would value the social media titan at more than $100 billion. Dan ArielyProfessor of psychology and behavioral economics, The Fuqua School of Business, Duke Universityhttp://danariely.com/Check out Ariely's blog post for further analysis:http://danariely.com/2012/05/16/the-facebook-ipo-a-note-to-mark-zuckerbe...'s research is dedicated to the forces that influence behavior, often leading consumers to act irrationally. He is the author of "Predictably Irrational" and "The Upside of Irrationality." Quote:"The leaders of Facebook probably believe in their own definition of a 'successful' IPO, which in their terms is one where the stock is priced at $40 and quickly trades up to $50. In the case of Facebook, this process simply redistributes $4 billion from Facebook to the banks and the large fund managers."For Mark Zuckerberg and his team, I have to wonder whether the emotional value of a first day share price 'pop' is worth $4 billion."
