Facebook IPO Now Delayed Until Late 2012, Say Reports

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Interesting reports have just landed about everyone’s favorite time-waster, Facebook. Seems that the ultra-popular social network that spawned everything from movies to pistachio commercials is holding off to launch its long-awaited initial public offering of stock. But what’s thrown the monkeywrench in Zuckerberg et al’s monster machine? You’ll be surprised.

The current word says that the delay, which has pushed back the long-awaited Facebook IPO to late in 2012, because they’re worried about dissension in the ranks. Apparently, Facebook top brass want the staff focused on developing products and getting Facebook into position to fend off the rapidly advancing hordes of Google+ and the like, not worrying about selling off their shares at the IPO, taking the cash and bugging out for some tropical island with an unpronounceable name.

Though there are other motives at work here, like pure efficiency; Zuckerberg et al likely know that when you go public, you have to cut the public in, which means shareholder meetings and prospectuses and all like that, which would definitely pull focus off the product development that Facebook sorely needs to survive.

But it’s not hard to look at this as though the company looked at its employees and, in the grandest Dilbert tradition, declared a sufficiently large percentage of them to be such unreliable weasels that, when presented with the perfect opportunity to cash out and run for the hills, they would do so, leaving Facebook a smoking hulk behind them that would be destroyed by Google+. Worse, there are some reports of a talent war currently going on in Silicon Valley, which would leave Facebook hard pressed to replace any losses they’d sustain if sufficient amounts of employees cashed in their stakes, and the current word says that a fair number of employees are indeed looking to do just that, likely spurred on by the bad economy, as cash in hand is worth a lot more than stock when it comes to, say, buying groceries.

It’s not a bad move for Facebook, and will likely help keep employees focused on Facebook instead of abandoning ship, though this may backfire as Facebook is likely to lose some momentum in the face of Google+’s advancement. But what do you guys think about this move? Should the social network strike while the iron is hot? Or are they right to shore up their positions against advancing competitors? Either way, we want to hear from you, so hit the comments section below and tell us what you think!