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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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?<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Compared to other major social networks, Facebook and LinkedIn, Twitter’s per-user value is quite small.<\/p>\n
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).<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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).<\/p>\n
Company<\/strong><\/td>\n| Users<\/strong><\/td>\n | Market Cap | \n<\/strong><\/td>\n Per-user Value | \n<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n LinkedIn<\/td>\n | 238 million<\/td>\n | $28.9 billion<\/td>\n | $121.42<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Facebook<\/td>\n | 1,200 million<\/td>\n | $119.7 billion<\/td>\n | $99.75<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Twitter<\/td>\n | 218 million<\/td>\n | $15 billion*<\/td>\n | $68.71<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n | *Estimated<\/small><\/p>\n While a company’s value-per-user may be interesting – how much these social giants are making per user is far more revealing.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n This equates to US$1.16 (R11.62) average revenue per user (ARPU).<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n
|