Facebook to Delay IPO Until Late 2012: Report

Facebook has reportedly decided to put off its highly anticipated initial public offering until the latter part of 2012, according to the Financial Times.

While no date had been set and no papers filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding an IPO, a deal was widely expected to take place in the first few months of 2012.

The Financial Times reported Wednesday that founder and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg is delaying an IPO until at least next September so that employees can focus on improving the social networking site instead of the money that will come with a high-profile IPO.

Sources close to the company told the newspaper that the delay is not related to recent market turbulence that has put a damper on demand for new shares.

Following an investment earlier this year by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), Facebook was valued at more than $50 billion, a figure thats reportedly increased to more than $66 billion.