According to federal law and SEC rules, any company with more than 500 shareholders and over $10 million in assets must file financial reports with the government. Google hit the 500-shareholder threshold in 2003. The company went public in 2004 at an offering price of $85 per share. Google shares closed at $613.50 in Thursday.

Facebook’s stated intention to go public or disclose its financial by April 2012 would appear to put to rest speculation that Goldman Sachs’ $1.5 billion Facebook fund for its wealthy clients is designed to circumvent the 500-shareholder rule.

The document reveals — for the first time — hard, though unaudited, details about Facebook’s financial performance. Through the first three quarters of 2010, Facebook earned profit of $355 million on revenue of $1.2 billion, according to a Reuters account of the prospectus.

That means the company would have had to have earned $145 million on revenue of $800 million in the fourth quarter to reach the $500 million and $2 billion full-year figures that many industry analysts had expected.

Ryan Jacob, of the Jacob Internet Fund, predicted to Reuters that Facebook’s net income could reach as high as $800 million or $1 billion in 2011.

It’s that kind of growth that has so many of Goldman’s wealthy clients clamoring to get a piece of the action.

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Authors: Sam Gustin

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