To: The Dallas Morning News 
Date:  February 6, 2012
Subject: Facebook IPO (responding to article in the paper)
Result:  censored

Dear Editor,

Re:  "Facebook updates status on IPO", Feb. 2 in Business section.

I am glad to see that Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, who is about to add billions
billions to his bank account from the upcoming initial public offering of his company, is not
in it for the money. "I believe in something beyond simply maximizing profits," he says, and
so that's good.

It just seems, however, that the spirit of those sentiments and beliefs is contradicted by how
the IPO will be administered, which will be "according to standard Wall Street protocol, with
shares distributed by the investment banks leading the effort."

To interpret that, those investment banks and their wealthy customers will be the ones to get
in at the starting price – so that when it zooms up from there, they will get a wonderful
freebie windfall – for them to then pay the 15 percent tax rate on their winnings. No doubt
it's going to the very same people who profited the most from all the other IPO's they've had.
Now one thing you don't hear about is all the jobs created by those lucky recipients.

There should be a lottery or something to randomly determine who gets to buy the opening shares
when a company has an initial public offering, so that everybody has a fair shot to reap the
rewards that go to the earliest investors.

Thank you,

John Vehon