(elitedaily.com)

You might want to give your grandparents a call, because they may be badgering their brokers right this very minute for Facebook shares--at least if this CNN Money article is to be believed.

The star of the piece is 79-year-old Alvan Sweet, described as "an experienced IPO investor," who now lives in a Florida retirement community. His friends never wanted his advice before, oh no, but now that big fancy Facebook is going public, that's all they can talk about:  

"When I was investing in other IPOs in the past, I mentioned them to my friends because I thought they were also good opportunities for them, but they never showed much interest," said Sweet, who's had a home in the Florida community for 16 years. "Now all of a sudden, they're very aggressively pushing me to do something to help them invest in the Facebook IPO."

Mr. Sweet told CNN Money that he isn't entirely sure they "understand the risks of investing in IPOs." At least they do have Facebook accounts; Mr. Sweet, for his part, does not.

Nor did these unnamed friends want to talk to the media.

But there's a chance, however slightly, they'll get their chance at some shares. As we've mentioned before, Facebook is looking to reserve more than usual for retail investors, out of a "people's company" idealism. And Facebook has also just amended its S-1 filing to reflect it'll be offering an additional 50.6 million shares. The expected price: $34 to $38 per share.

Still, it's worth remembering two words: "Muppet bait," from no less a Zuck enthusiast than Henry Blodget.

(elitedaily.com)

When Facebook hits the NASDAQ sometime later this month, the structure of the stock offerings will ensure that Mark Zuckerberg still hasa substantial amount of control. If that sounds unusual or problematic, well, Bloomberg has crunched the numbers and the trend probably isn’t disappearing any time soon--so we’d all better get used to founders who make it to the IPO sticking around for the long haul.

Traditionally, going public means ceding some authority, as CEOs become answerable not just to a board of directors, but new shareholders, as well. For a particularly flamboyant example of how this can play out, witness Yahoo’s resume-gate, which was set into motion by a particularly activist investor.

Rather than risk mission drift, a growing number of tech companies are electing a dual-class stock structure, which grants founders more valuable stock and therefore more long-term control. Google helped pave the way by fighting for the option in 2004, and then there's glowing example of the once-defoundered Steve Jobs, who returned from his time in the wilderness to save an ailing Apple. In 2011, Groupon, LinkedIn, Zillow, and Zynga all IPOed with the structure. Based on their limited numbers of outside board members, Bloomberg suggests hot new startups like Dropbox, Quora, Pinterest, Nest Labs, and Flipboard all might follow in their footsteps.

But not everyone is thrilled with the trend. Anne Sheehan is the director of corporate governance at the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (which manages many, many billions of dollars in assets), and she is skeptical:

“They’re good for Mark Zuckerberg or the founders of Google, but are they good in the long run?” Sheehan said. “If they want to get public money and play in the big leagues, why is tech any different?”

Doesn't anyone just want to take his IPO money and chillax on a yacht anymore?

Mr. Zuckerberg (Facebook.com)

Like most hotly anticipated IPOs, there are plenty of people who’d like a piece of Facebook, and even all the ad-revenue-related doubts in the world aren’t going to change that. Typically, only a small slice of shares are available to mom-and-pop investors. But according to Dealbook, Facebook wants a higher percentage reserved for retail investors, perhaps even as much as 20 to 25 percent for retail investors. 

Dealbook suggests the decision is a statement of corporate values:

The company is seeking to give retail investors a bigger cut because it sees itself as a service created for, and driven by, consumers. One person briefed on the offering, who declined to be identified because of regulatory restrictions, said Facebook sees itself as “the people’s company.”

Pro-tip: If your company has a long history of privacy-related blunders, it’s best not to use any terminology reminiscent of Animal Farm.

Any retail investors who might get a shot at Facebook stock are likely to be making choices in, let’s say, an exuberant atmosphere. There’s that emotional road show video, which makes investing in Facebook feel like a West Wing episode. Lead underwriter JP Morgan is psyched as hell, hanging a massive Facebook flag outside its headquarters and going big on the swag. All that leads Henry Blodget to go ahead and label the whole thing "muppet bait":

1) At $100B, Facebook's IPO is very speculative. The stock could easily trade for half that.

— Henry Blodget (@hblodget) May 4, 2012

2) Most individuals should NEVER, EVER buy IPOs. They have no idea how little they know relative to full-time pros

— Henry Blodget (@hblodget) May 4, 2012

3) Facebook is already enormous "muppet bait". Everyone thinks it's a sure thing. JP Morgan ad will stoke those flames read.bi/JRvHSj

— Henry Blodget (@hblodget) May 4, 2012

Also worth noting: The sage of Omaha and friend to Jay-Z, Warren Buffet, plans to sit this one out.

Using his powers for good, not evil. (Facebook.com)

That “life-saving” feature Facebook has been teasing? It’s a big push to support organ donation. Thousands die every year waiting for transplants, and--thanks to the prompting of his med-student girlfriend--Mark Zuckerberg wants to help close the gap. Users can now publicize via their timelines their decisions to become organ donors. The thinking seems to be that some combination of positive reinforcement and peer pressure will prompt more people to opt in.

Mr. Zuckerberg told ABC News,

“Facebook is really about communicating and telling stories… We think that people can really help spread awareness of organ donation and that they want to participate in this to their friends. And that can be a big part of helping solve the crisis that’s out there.”

Users who click over to the “health and wellness” section of their timeline will find an option to broadcast their status and, if they aren’t already donors, a link to register (presumably adding “hint, hint” was a little much).

In his interview with ABC, Zuck cited two inspirations in particular: Steve Jobs, whose liver transplant provided several additional years of life; and heart-wrenching stories from his girlfriend Priscilla Chan, who is in training to become a pediatrician and therefore has first-hand knowledge of the shortage and its impact. We suspect Ms. Chan is a force to be reckoned with.

The New York Times reached out to Dr. Andrew M. Cameron, Johns Hopkins Hospital’s surgical director of liver transplantation, who called today “an historic day in transplant.” He blames the current gap on the hellish location where we’re currently asked to commit:

“We have attempted to have a sensitive conversation, one that addresses your mortality, at the D.M.V.,” Dr. Cameron said. “Now we move the conversation into your own home or office with 120 of your closest friends on Facebook.”

But while the cause is certainly honorable, we can’t help but wonder whether Facebook--home of Farmville, drunken party pics, and infuriating political arguments with high school classmates--really qualifies as an appropriate venue for such a discussion.

Betabeat also notices that Mr. Zuckerberg doesn't appear to have signed up yet, either.

Mr. Zuckerberg. (Facebook)

Mark your calendars, folks: Reports indicate Facebook goes public less than a month from today, on May 17.

Bear in mind that date isn’t ironclad, so don't request a vacation day to watch the proceedings on CNBC or anything. The SEC still has to give the all-clear, and it’s always possible something crazy could happen in the next month. But TechCrunch is getting reports from multiple sources, and the date squares with previous scuttlebutt.

Sources also told TechCrunch to expect valuation around $100 billion, which would place shares around $40. By addressing concerns about mobile, the deal with Instagram might push that number even higher, to $104 billion (but who's counting?). So just brace yourself for remarks that begin, "A million dollars isn't cool. You know what's cool?"

Betabeat speculates that somewhere, Sean Parker is planning the rager to end all ragers.

No, really -- name your price. (facebook.com)

Apparently Instagram’s $500 million valuation sent Mark Zuckerberg into outright panic mode. The acquisition wasn't some secretly-long-in-the-works project. An anonymous source tells Dealbook that within 24 hours of the photo-sharing serving closing its latest round, Zuck was calling up CEO Kevin Systrom, ready to make it rain:

"Mr. Zuckerberg was blunt: Facebook wanted to buy Instagram. Over the next 48 hours, Facebook and Instagram hammered out the details for a $1 billion cash-and-stock deal, the social network’s largest acquisition to date, the people said. By the end of Sunday, the deal was done and announced the following day."

We were kind of hoping he'd just told the lawyers to make Systrom an offer he couldn't refuse.