Could it be that Facebook is really, truly going to file its initial public offering next week?
Papers for the IPO may be filed as early as next Wednesday, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. Citing people familiar with the matter, the Journal reports that Morgan Stanley is strongly positioned to handle the offering.
Facebook has been flirting with an IPO for well over a year. Speculation that a filing was nigh began intensifying earlier this week after Bloomberg reported that attorneys for Facebook instituted a three-day halt of trading for the company on secondary markets.
Also read: Wall Street 'Likes' Facebook IPO, But It's a Hard Climb From Private to Public
Facebook is reportedly flirting with a $75 billion to $100 billion valuation, making it easily the biggest tech IPO in history.
Those lofty numbers are part of the reason that investors have been panting to get their fingers on the social network's stock. The hope is also that Facebook's monster debut will wipe away the sour taste left by the likes of Zynga, Pandora and Groupon.
All of those companies filed IPOs with great fanfare, only to see their share prices swan-dive over withering press coverage and investor scrutiny of everything from their accounting practices to their long-term prospects of reaching profitability.
However, founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been hesitant to go public. He has reportedly fretted that a market debut could stifle innovation at Facebook and might lead top talent at the company to cash in and take off.