How much are you worth to Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn?
Documents published with Twitter’s IPO have revealed the social networking company’s finances for the first time – providing insight into how much money they’re actually making from users.
With Twitter’s official initial public offering (IPO) on the horizon, the social network will join the likes of Facebook and LinkedIn in becoming a publicly-traded company.
But how much are these social media giants worth, based on their user base – and more importantly, how much money are their users bringing in?
Value per user
According to Reuters, analysts believe that Twitter could be worth as much as US$15 billion – and with an active monthly user base of 218.3 million per month, that would put the company’s value at US$68.71 (R688.32) per person.
Compared to other major social networks, Facebook and LinkedIn, Twitter’s per-user value is quite small.
Facebook is fast approaching 1.2 billion users on its network, and with a market capitalisation sitting at US$119.7 billion, this places the social giant’s per-user value at $99.75 (R999.27).
But bigger does not necessarily mean better – professional social network, LinkedIn, has a per-user value far greater than both Facebook and the projected values for Twitter.
With 238 million users, and a market cap of US$28.9 billion, LinkedIn exhibits a per-user valuation of US$121.42 (R1,216.35).
| Company | Users | Market Cap |
Per-user Value |
| 238 million | $28.9 billion | $121.42 | |
| 1,200 million | $119.7 billion | $99.75 | |
| 218 million | $15 billion* | $68.71 |
*Estimated
Average revenue per user
While a company’s value-per-user may be interesting – how much these social giants are making per user is far more revealing.
Twitter’s IPO documents released on Thursday (3 October) revealed that in the first six months of 2013, the company brought in revenue of US$253 million.
This equates to US$1.16 (R11.62) average revenue per user (ARPU).
Facebook on the other hand recorded revenue of US$3.271 billion for the first 6 months of 2013 – which equates to about US$2.72 (R27.25) ARPU for the company.
LinkedIn’s revenue in its Q1 andQ2 reporting was recorded at a combined US$668.4 million – this equates to US$2.89 (R28.95) ARPU.
| Company | Users | Revenue (first 6 months of 2013) |
ARPU |
| 238 million | $668.4 million | $2.89 | |
| 1,200 million | $3,271.0 million | $2.72 | |
| 218 million | $253 million | $1.15 |
More on the Twitter IPO
Twitter: from tiny tweets to towering tank
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