Facebook expected to join Apple, Google & Microsoft on Nasdaq

Facebook's forthcoming initial public offering is expected to be offered on the Nasdaq Stock Market, joining a host of other major technology companies like Apple, Microsoft and Google.

The massive social networking site is expected to raise as much as $10 billion with its IPO, and it will be the biggest offering since Google hit the market in 2004. In what is seen as a major victory for the Nasdaq, Facebook will join other tech giants on that exchange in May, anonymous sources told The Wall Street Journal.

Facebook's alliance with the Nasdaq would be significant because it is in heated competition with the New York Stock Exchange for listings. Last year, LinkedIn opted to join the NYSE while Groupon went with Nasdaq.

Nasdaq remains the world's second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization, behind the NYSE. As of January, the Nasdaq had a total capitalization of over $4.5 trillion.

AAPL stock is by far the biggest offering on the Nasdaq, or any stock exchange, as the Cupertino, Calif., company has the world's largest market cap of over $590 billion. As of Thursday's closing, Apple's market cap was nearly three times larger than rival Google.

Facebook and Apple have had a number of run-ins with each other over the years, both in partnerships and in disputes. Last November, Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg revealed that Steve Jobs coached him on building Facebook, giving him guidance on focusing his company and choosing the right management team.

In conversations with biographer Walter Isaccson, Jobs revealed that he admired Zuckerberg for trying to grow Facebook into a major company instead of selling it.

Facebook officially filed for its IPO in February, revealing that the company earned $3.7 billion in revenues and made $1 billion in profits in 2011. The social networking company hopes its IPO will raise $5 billion.