Groupon CEO Andrew Mason fired

Groupon CEO Andrew Mason fired! The daily deal site has boosted founder Andrew Mason, after the company posted disappointing earnings. Groupon reported a surprising loss on Thursday, causing the stock to drop nearly 25%. Investors have soured on the company and are questioning the daily deal business model. Groupon creates value for consumers by destroying value for merchants. Consequently, many merchants are foregoing daily deal sites, thus hurting Groupon’s revenue. After ditching Mason, Groupon shares bounced back 4% in after-hours trading. But is that just a dead-cat bounce for dying business model? ENGLISH:

Facebook IPO: poor earnings selectively disclosed?

As Facebook officials were busy hyping the company’s $16 billion IPO, the company quietly told its underwriters Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan to scale back 2Q earnings estimates. Facebook was concerned increased mobile usage would cut into earnings and the underwriters, who analysts covering the company, were too optimistic about second-quarter earnings prospects. But who did Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan tell about Facebook’s warning? Top clients get information first. Of course, smaller investors and those buying shares in the open market never received this information. This selective disclosure provides investors close to the underwriters an advantage small investors don’t enjoy. In the three days since Facebook went public, the shares have lost…

Facebook Class B shares explained

Facebook kicks off its roadshow Monday for the company’s initial public offering, which is expected to raise US$5 billion for the company. Facebook, which trade under will trade under the ticker “FB, will have two share classes: Class A and Class B. Class A shares will be sold to the public and traded on the Nasdaq. Class B shares will be privately held by Facebook insiders, principally Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg’s B shares will carry 10 times the voting weight of class A shares. So while he owns just 28% of the company, Zuckerberg will control 57% of the voting rights. As such, the majority owners of Facebook will have little sway over the direction of…