5 replies to this topic

[Ed Normile]

Now as Facebook is selling stock and becoming another billionaire run entity does this mean that the Occupy crowd and the 1% 'ers will have to find another venue to plan and promote their outings? It stands to reason if they are against big business they will now have to shun this evil big business, unless of course Marc Zuckerburg gives 95% of his wealth in taxes to help erase school loans....


yeah, thats gonna happen.

ed

[Clare~Therese]

I don't know--that's a good question, actually...let's watch and see what happens!

[Ed Normile]

On a side note, A 2010 Retail World Annual Report showed that condom sales from Ansell contributed $24 million to the grocery market, up 7.9 per cent on previous years. I guess these kids are going to have to boycott "big rubber " too, I mean $24 million in sales in grocery stores alone, how much will they be making once catholic institutions have to provide these as part of health care. But if they do they have the abortion industry to take care of the " inconvienent " lives they may be burdened with. I wonder if they should boycott " big Murder " too?

ed

[BG45]

Except Facebook was already a billionaire run entity because Zuckerberg was a billionaire previous to Facebook's IPO (according to Forbes he was worth $1.5 billion in 2008)...but why let facts get in the way of a good rant?

[Ed Normile]

Except Facebook was already a billionaire run entity because Zuckerberg was a billionaire previous to Facebook's IPO (according to Forbes he was worth $1.5 billion in 2008)...but why let facts get in the way of a good rant?

OH MY GOSH !! Do you mean to say these young people are that foolish to be utilizing the very machine the have railed against? This is shocking !

By the way BG45, they Occupy crowd was protesting big corporations, which is what you become AFTER you offer an IPO, but why ruin a good rant...

ed

Edited by Ed Normile, 20 May 2012 - 09:42 PM.

[BG45]

OH MY GOSH !! Do you mean to say these young people are that foolish to be utilizing the very machine the have railed against? This is shocking !

By the way BG45, they Occupy crowd was protesting big corporations, which is what you become AFTER you offer an IPO, but why ruin a good rant...

ed

I never said they were foolish for using a corporation's services, you seem to be the one doing that. A friend put it nicely, that it's difficult to do anything in the industrialized world if you're unwilling to use something made by rich people.

Last I checked, there were more people involved in Occupy than the youth. But these ladies all seem young enough:




IPOs, or initial public offerings, are usually used by smaller companies that are seeking the capital to expand and become a "big business" as you put it, but large private companies use them as well. Such as Facebook and Google. Believe it or not, you can be a big business while being privately owned, the public offering allows people to buy interest in your company, helps you raise capital, and opens you up to a number of risks by no longer holding control of your corporation.

For instance, here are some examples of big businesses (some of whom Occupy is protesting) who are private companies and have never had an IPO (also courtesy of Forbes):

Cargill - $109.56 billion in revenue – 126,800 employees
Koch Industries - $100 billion in revenue – 67,000 employees
Mars – $30 billion – 65,000 employees
Enterprise Rent-A-Car - $14.10 billion – 70,000 employees
Fidelity Investments - $12.26 billion – 37,600 employees
Giant Eagle - $8.20 billion – 35,000 employees
Hilton Worldwide – $8.00 billion – 130,000 employees
Bloomberg - $7 billion – 13,000 employees
Hallmark Cards - $3.81 billion – 13,030 employees
Hearst Media - $3.80 billion – 20,000 employees

I'm unsure what you consider "big business", but that link contains 212 private companies that make over $2 billion in revenue per year. None of whom have had an IPO. But like you said "why ruin a good rant".