zynga

Why tech needs more IPOs like Zynga's $1B offering

Zynga has finally put numbers to what it wants to raise in an IPO: anywhere from $.85 billion to $1.15 billion. That's 100 million shares at a range of $8.50 to $10 a share.

Before you conclude that this is just another manipulative march of the high tech financiers, take another look. In a number of ways, Zynga is breaking with startup-looking-to-go-public business as usual. The likely reason is the number of newly-public tech companies that have already seen their stock prices drop below IPO levels. Maybe it signals a new direction for tech IPOs, and that … Read more

Zynga IPO could raise as much as $1.15 billion

Social-gaming company Zynga is ready to brave the turbulent initial public offering market, and if the IPO goes well, it might just raise over $1 billion.

Zynga reported in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing today that it will price its stock between $8.50 and $10 a share. The company currently plans to sell 100 million shares, but has made 15 million additional shares available for over-allotment. Depending on how well Zynga can attract buyers, the company could raise between $850 million and $1.15 billion in its offering.

"We intend to use the net proceeds to us … Read more

Indiana Jones raids Zynga's Adventure World

While fans of the Indiana Jones franchise wait to see if Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Harrison Ford will pursue a fifth installment in that movie franchise, Indy fans on Facebook can spend a little time visiting Dr. Jones through Zynga's Adventure World.

Indiana Jones and the Calendar of the Sun is a spinoff of Adventure World, Zynga's puzzle-based social game. The chapter is part of a collaboration between Lucasfilm and Zynga to bring Indiana Jones to online mini-games for the first time. … Read more

Zynga to go public at $10 billion valuation, reports say

Zynga's highly anticipated public offering is expected to value the company at $10 billion, well below a recent analyst estimate, according to published reports.

The game developer, which is expected file its IPO plans with regulators on Friday, intends to raise $900 million based on a share price range of $8 to $10, sources tell Reuters. Shares are set to be priced on December 15.

The $10 billion valuation is lower than the $15 billion and $20 billion at which some had expected the company to value itself, TechCrunch noted. Zynga indicated in an SEC filing two weeks ago … Read more

Are Zynga employees miserable, ready to bail after IPO?

Zynga has been hit hard lately by reports that say it has been tough on employees. But according to a new story, employees might be preparing to strike back.

Every quarter, Zynga holds a staff survey to find out how employees feel about the company. Last month, the company's CEO Mark Pincus got more than he bargained for from employees after many of them complained of tough working conditions, according to The New York Times yesterday. At least one of the people who responded to the company survey said that as soon as Zynga goes public and they can … Read more

The 404 948: Where we're in some deep dish (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 Podcast episode:

Congress is proposing a school lunchroom bill that would allow as little as two tablespoons of tomato paste on a frozen pizza to be classified as a proper weekly serving of vegetables for students. Fries and tater tots also count as vegetables. The U.S. Department of Justice wants to make it a crime to lie on social networks like Match.com, Facebook, and OKCupid--if the fib in question violates other laws outside of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. This holiday season, the Salvation Army send its volunteers into the streets with a new way to accept donations using credit card-reading hardware provided by Sprint/Nextel and Square. The program will join Girl Scout troops and The U.S. Army in pushing the next generation of mobile payments. A digital experiment from the artists at Wemakecoolsh.it enables subway denizens on the L-Train to access Wi-Fi and communicate with one another secretly using their self-powered "NOTwork." The enclosed system will run the week of November 14th on L-Trains going in and out of the Brooklyn and Manhattan boroughs. AOL resurrects its Instant Messaging service AIM with new features that even the score with sites like Meebo and Adium, and Jabber that already let you log chat histories, sign into multiple social networking accounts, and view multimedia like video and Twitter messages directly in the message window. An attack on online copyright infringements is in in progress, spearheaded by an initiative called the Stop Online Privacy Act, or SOPA that aims to blacklist sites that allegedly violate existing copyright laws. As of last night, however, the opposition is gaining powerful allies across the Web, including big names like Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Zynga. Bathroom break video 1: Star Wars Rogue Squadron - Cheers Bathroom break video 2: Turkish Ice Cream Follow Jeff, Wilson, Justin, and The 404 Twitter pages for a chance to win Battlefield 3, Batman: Arkham City, and Uncharted 3. Check out this post for how to enter.

Click through to stream or download today's 404 podcast episode!… Read more

Newest Zynga title CastleVille goes live

Wanna be king of your own castle? Then go to it with Zynga's newest online game: "CastleVille."

Zynga, the world's top social games developer, today began rolling out its newest title in the company's popular 'Ville franchise. It's now live on Facebook where it has already attracted over a million likes.

CityVille and FarmVille are Zynga's most popular games with 54 million and 28 million monthly actives, respectively. The San Francisco-based company, which is widely expected to ready itself for an IPO after the Thanksgiving holiday, is surely betting hordes of online gamers … Read more

So Zynga, ready to go public?

Doesn't Zynga have enough headaches getting ready for its initial public offering?

The social-gaming company yesterday suffered a distraction from its IPO plans after The Wall Street Journal reported that Zynga CEO Mark Pincus last year demanded unvested stock back from some employees who, he believed, didn't deserve to hold so many shares in the company. If the employees didn't hand over the shares, the Journal reported, they would face termination.

That report cropped up at the worst possible time for Zynga. The social-gaming company is planning to offer its shares after Thanksgiving. Given the state of … Read more

Zynga to employees: Give back our stock or you'll be fired

Attracting top employees can be difficult for cash-strapped startups. So, in many cases, they give out company stock to supplement salaries that employees might feel is below-market.

Zynga followed that strategy. But now the CityVille and FarmVille maker apparently wishes it hadn't, according to a new report.

Citing industry sources, The Wall Street Journal reported today that Zynga CEO Mark Pincus, along with his top executives, decided last year as they were preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) that they had given out too much stock to employees. But rather than accept that reality, the executives reportedly tried … Read more