FarmVille, Mafia Wars maker Zynga is worth $3 billion, says trading site SharesPost

February 18, 2010 | Paul Boutin
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Games company Zynga, developer of the runaway hits Farmville and Mafia Wars, hasn’t filed for an IPO yet. So we don’t know for sure what Zynga’s market value will be if that happens.

But a study done by research form Next Up for pre-IPO trading service SharesPost says Zynga is worth three billion dollars, putting it in the same league as Facebook’s estimated $5B valuation.

SharesPost lets customers buy and sell shares in companies that have not yet begun trading publicly on a stock exchange such as the Nasdaq or NYSE. Employees and investors in Facebook, Twitter or Tesla Motors, for example, could sell some of their shares to people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to get in on these companies’ financial successes.

To encourage traders to feel informed about their purchases and sales, SharesPost publishes research by firms including Next Up on the companies whose shares SharesPost trades.

Hence, Next Up’s estimate of Zynga’s market value. “We have used two methods,” Next Up researchers wrote in their report. “Steady-state target EV/Revenue multiple, and comparative EV/Revenue multiple based on a peer group. We arrived at a market cap of $2.806 billion to $3.315 billion for Zynga, and an estimated price per share of $14.97 to $17.68.”

What that means is, Next Up analysts looked at estimates of how much cash Zynga is raking in, and how well similar companies are doing in terms of income and valuations.

SharesPost, founded last year in Santa Monica, California, automates the paperwork, using electronic signatures. US Bank handles the escrow process for SharePoint transactions, which seems to make customers trust the service.

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About the Author, Paul Boutin

Paul (paul@venturebeat.com) covers Apple & the iPhone, social networks & social media, digital music & video, and any crazy Internet story. Paul wrote and edited for Valleywag from 2006-2008, after several years with Wired magazine and Slate. He writes regularly for The New York Times' Personal Tech section and sometimes for Wired and The Wall Street Journal. He studied computer science at MIT in the early 1980s, and worked as a software developer and network administrator for 15 years before becoming a professional writer. Follow him on Twitter at @paulboutin, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.

  • how is this possible?
  • iloveobama22
    Sick shit, can't wait to play farmville, I got $500 worht of farmcash to buy
  • thank you! That looks like a great resource
  • Zynga has made copious amounts of money from its games like FarmVille and Mafia Wars. While the company's worth isn't a matter of public knowledge, pre-IPO trading service SharesPost estimates Zynga to be valued at somewhere around $3 billion.
  • I would like to say New development in farmville.The animals now also generate points, Cows you can now collect the milk, Chicken - collect the eggs, sheep- collect the wool. Don't know what you would collect with the goat or pig. Figure there must be some benefit down the road to having buildings.
    bariatric surgery
  • After all this time I've never tried either but always still wonder if I'm missing out on something, some right of passage of the modern internet age that I should be partaking in. Like having played Zork or Sierra Quest games. is this something that I should just give a try for trying sake?
  • Facebook games like Farmville and Mafia Wars carry a rep for being diabolically addictive, but who knew they were just downright diabolical?
  • Honestly though, people, if you willingly gave your address and phone number away to a game called “Mafia Wars,” you only got what was coming to you. Just sayin'.
  • Like I keep telling my old FPS buddy. Stop spending all your time on these low budget mmos/rpgs and start playing a real game like WoW. Same thing but only for the pros.
  • How is this possible?
  • Bruce
    It's possible because farmville is the best game ever.

    I might still be unemployed because of Bush's recession (and yes, it is still his fault, it takes a long time to fix a broken Economy but Obama is doing his best)... but it's still worthwhile to throw a few bucks into farmville to get upgraded buildings.

    PS. If anyone has a really good farm, friend me!! We're trying to build up a network of the most elite farms in farmville (people who play at least 3 hours a day).
  • Voyno: Its simple -- Zynga games make money, Twitter & Facebook are still figuring out how to do that. Doesn't matter how much traffic you have, its what you do with it.
  • Mark
    Paul,

    $3 billion is not more than Twitter and FB's recent valuations combined. FB's recent valuation was over $5B.
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