Facebook is still the world’s most successful start-up, despite ongoing market concerns about its growth prospects, MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor told CNBC.com on Tuesday.
Saylor said Facebook will become the digital age’s equivalent of the yellow pages telephone directories, providing an easier way to communicate than email.
“Facebook offers the most efficient way for people to show and communicate information,” Saylor said.
He forecasts smartphone ownership will reach five billion within five years, and “Facebook is destined to map all five billion of those people,” he said.
Facebook shares have fallen from their initial offering price of $38 when the company went public on May 18. They reached an all-time low of $25.52 on July 26 after the company posted second-quarter earnings showing a net loss of $157 million or 8 cents a share.
Saylor conceded Facebook had yet to monetize successfully — “or work out how to monetize” — but said China’s move to ban Facebook, along with Google, highlighted how powerfully the company was perceived.
He added that CEO Mark Zuckerberg has achieved greater success than Bill Gates had at a similar age.
Saylor also gave a live interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.” (To view his appearance, click here.)
—By CNBC.com’s Katy Barnato
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Disclosure
No disclosure information was available for Michael Saylor.
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