The much anticipated Initial Public Offer (IPO) of social networking giant, Facebook is set to open on Friday when the company's shares will be sold for the first time ever on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his energetic team are on a cross-country road show aimed to promoting the social network's IPO, which could value the company at about $100 billion, a valuation that would make Facebook worth as much as Disney, Ford and Kraft Foods.

Managing public money will be a new challenge for the young leader as well as his team. He is expected to please new stakeholders, including Wall Street investment firms, hedge funds and pension funds all of who will force him to keep the company growing.

"Simply put: we don't build services to make money; we make money to build better services. And we think this is a good way to build something. These days I think more and more people want to use services from companies that believe in something beyond simply maximizing profits," wrote Zuckerberg in his letter to prospective shareholders.

According to regulatory filing, Facebook is aiming for a market value of as much as $96 billion and is offering shares at $28 to $35 each for its IPO. Facebook is expecting investors to pay 99 times earnings for its (IPO). The Menlo Park, California-based company is expecting to meet investors next week and will price the offering on May 17. At the higher proposed valuation, the company will be valued higher than many firms in the S&P 500.

Facebook is aiming to raise about $5 billion through the issue, which makes it the biggest IPO by an internet firm ever in silicon valley, even as the figure is about half of what was expected by many analysts in the market. The event will gather much interest in the Silicon Valley this year as Facebook joins many young firms in going public.