Facebook raises $16 billion in I.P.O.

NEW YORK: As investors raced to buy shares, the sprawling social network raised $16 billion on Thursday, in an initial public offering that valued Facebook at $104 billion.

While the I.P.O. shares, 421 million of them, are being sold at $38 each, the feverish anticipation of their debut could drive them higher on Friday when the stock starts trading about 11 a.m. Newly public technology stocks — particularly ones that have captured investors’ attention like Facebook — often achieve double-digit gains in a one-day pop.

The I.P.O. signals a rapid evolution for the company. In just eight years, Facebook has gone from a scrappy college service founded in a Harvard dormitory to the third-largest public offering in the history of the United States, behind General Motors and Visa.

Investors now consider Facebook more stalwart than start-up. At $104 billion, the social network’s market value is higher than those of McDonald’s, Citigroup, Amazon and all but a handful of other American companies.

Facebook will be celebrating the occasion in the same style on which it built its reputation.

On Friday, Mark Zuckerberg, the hoodie-wearing founder whose stake after the I.P.O. is worth $19 billion, is set to ring the opening bell for the Nasdaq from Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., surrounded by executives, engineers and other employees. Shares of Facebook, which will trade under the ticker FB, will start trading shortly thereafter.

For now, Facebook seems to be a must-own stock.