Facebook IPO Could Give California Nearly $2.5 Billion in Five Years
Facebook’s eagerly anticipated Wall Street debut could pump nearly $2.5 billion into California coffers over the next five years, the state’s top budget analyst said Monday.
It was the first public prediction by a state official of what the social networking giant’s initial public offering could mean for California’s bottom line.
The revenue would come partly from taxes on the sale of stock, as a lucky few cash in their Facebook holdings. A report from Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor said that could lead to “extraordinary one-time changes” that drive up tax receipts from newly wealthy residents.
Facebook filed for a $5-billion IPO earlier this month, smaller than some predicted but still the biggest yet for an Internet company. If the IPO occurs this spring, the state could get a $500-million boost in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, Taylor wrote.
The real payoff would come after that, with an estimated $1.5-billion windfall in the 2012-13 fiscal year. An additional $450 million is expected to trickle in over the following three years, according to the report.