Zuckerberg has Columbia Pictures to thank for Goldman's Facebook deal

If you are sitting on a few hundred million dollars of personal net worth, with Goldman Sachs’ private client group as your stockbrokerage, chances are that you’re not on Facebook. Your kids or grandkids maybe, but not you.

More than likely, with that pile, you’re doing your best to avoid those highschool crushes, rather than secretly hoping to be found by them 40 years later. But rich people go to the movies, and they read the New York Times. The fact that The Social Network got a great review in the NYT, lionized Mark Zuckerberg’s business accumen, and is up for a Best Picture Oscar has done remarkable things to publicize the Facebook investment opportunity with the very buyers who have “flooded” Goldman with orders on the US$1.5B private placement.

In his recent 60 Minutes interview, Mr. Zuckerberg didn’t seem very happy with how he was portrayed in the movie. But as Goldman well knows, it did wonders to build the buzz for the US$1.5 billion “blow-out” private placement.

MRM