UNDATED (CNN) -- After months of anticipation, Facebook finally made its stock market debut. And despite high hopes, the stock ended Friday just a fraction above where it started.
The largest IPO in tech history was summed up in a succinct status update Friday morning: "Mark listed FB on NASDAQ." But the event so many had been waiting for, wasn't as blockbuster as expected.
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg rang NASDAQ's opening bell from the social networking giant's Menlo Park, California headquarters early Friday morning.
About two hours later shares in the company he started in a Harvard dorm room eight years ago began trading and after an initial boost, seemed to stumble early.
It was a disappointment to those who expected Facebook to come out of the gate strong. But Friday's slow start could be a sign the company's plan to make more money for shareholders doesn't appear as clear as tech rivals like Google. Fortune senior writer Jessi Hempel says, "Google had a silver bullet of sorts with its advertising strategy. Quite simply, Facebook doesn't have that yet. Facebook has done some incredible and interesting things advertising wise, but it's still largely experimental, and we don't know if it's gonna work."
But Facebook's failure to skyrocket on opening day may not be a bad sign. It could just mean that Facebook and the bankers who priced the second-largest IPO in U.S. history at $38 per share, got it fairly right, even if it didn't provide the opening day drama, many hoped for.