Valleywag reports post-crisis assessments of Facebook’s value.

One year ago, Microsoft invested $240 Million in Facebook and gained control of 1.6% of the Company. Arithmetically-wise, this sure means that 100% of the Company would have cost Microsoft $15 Billion.

So the price was right, wasn’t it? Well, maybe. Facebook was not publicly traded (and still isn’t), so it was not possible to verify this evaluation against the market (that is, if others agreed to buy shares at the same price). Maybe, as some analysts suggested, this was more a proof of
Microsoft’s will to do a deal with Facebook rather than a reliable indication of
its value.

But now?

Even if Facebook is not publicly traded, an informal market exists for its stocks and is based on stock options owned by employees. According to Valleywag, the current trade prices might suggest an overall value for Facebook between $1.3 and $2.3 Billion, about ten times less than one year ago.

Now that the word is out , I expect useless and uninformed stories to pop up on online newspapers about the end of Facebook (and possibly of the whole social network phenomenon). Any idea or prediction for silly headlines?