Nostalgic for the late 1990s when dotcoms meant instant IPO riches for virtually anyone with an idea and a computer terminal.

Well Facebook, which is currently privately held, could be worth as much as $33.7bn (£21.8bn), based on secondary market transactions.

According to the Financial Times, privately held stock in the company is trading as high as $76 per share, giving the group this staggering valuation despite a lack of transparent information on the company’s financial performance.

When an IPO goes ahead, potentially in 2011 or 2012, it could be the largest flotation of a technology group to date, blowing away Google’s $1.67bn flotation in 2004.