Today in Connected Consumer

Does Facebook have a Mark Zuckerberg problem? If eyebrows were raised when Facebook’s initial S-1 revealed Zuckerberg’s near complete control of the board and voting shares, they’re positively twitching now in the wake of a series of moves that could delay the company’s keenly anticipated IPO and reduce its initial valuation. FIrst came Facebook’s impulsive acquisition of Instagram for $1 billion, which according to the Wall Street Journal was entirely a Zuckerberg deal. Then came the $550 million deal with Microsoft for a group of patents Microsoft had just acquired from AOL. All that was happening while investors were trying to get their heads around Facebook’s less-than-impressive numbers in its last full quarter before the IPO. It’s enough to have some analysts wondering whether Zuckerberg just isn’t that into making a big pile of dough right now and is more interested in making Facebook into a company built to last. Even his house has been criticized for not being ostentatious enough. If so, good for Zuckerberg. Wall Street is not the only party in interests and it would be great if more companies focused more on their business and less on their share price.