Facebook prices shares in $28-$35 band

Facebook is offering around 337.4 million shares, at $28 to $35 each, which would raise founder Mark Zukerberg's stake in the company to $17.6 billion at the upper end of the price band.

With its forthcoming $11.8 billion initial public offer, 27-year-old Mark Zuckerberg would raise his status in the ranks of the world's richest men and put his social network among the highest-valued among US companies.

At the upper end of that range, the cofounder's stake would be worth $17.6 billion, making him richer than Microsoft Corp's Steve Ballmer and Russian steel billionaire Vladimir Lisin, who are both twice his age, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Zuckerberg, launched the service for Harvard University classmates as a 19-year-old from his dorm room, building Facebook into the most popular social networking site in the world, with 900 million plus users last quarter. According to analysts, he would now have to prove he has the leadership skills to drive enough growth to justify the company's valuation.

Zuckerberg, who has built a reputation for introducing new products quickly, helped the company supplant MySpace as the most popular social service as he took on competition from Google, Twitter and other social-media sites. The company has added to its appeal by enabling developers to build applications on top of the platform, offering users music, movies, e-commerce options and other extras.

One of the reasons for the success of Facebook is said to be the team's nimble approach that is usually associated with a start-up of smaller size. The approach encouraged experimentation and innovation on a regular basis, even when they enjoyed a lead.