Zuckerberg takes heat for hoodie on IPO road show
Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter says the Facebook CEO's hoodie is a "mark of immaturity" and shows a lack of respect for investors. Even so, he set a $44 price target and gave Facebook an outperform rating.
Facebook is about a week away from a near $100-billion valuation outing on Wall Street and at least one Wall Streeter is complaining about Mark Zuckerberg's attire for the IPO road show.
Bloomberg's Mark Milian quotes Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter: "Mark and his signature hoodie: He's actually showing investors he doesn't care that much; he's going to be him. I think that's a mark of immaturity. I think that he has to realize he's bringing investors in as a new constituency right now, and I think he's got to show them the respect that they deserve because he's asking them for their money."
What, no bowing to the bankers who are waiting in line to get in on the IPO and are in awe of the almost-28-year-old who owns 18.4 percent of the company and 57 percent of the voting shares? He's supposed to dress as if he were dining with the president of the United States? Or can he wear his signature garb like Steve Jobs' black turtlenecks or the designer suits of Larry Ellison?
Pachter can't be that concerned about Zuckerberg's wardrobe. He had enough respect for what Zuckerberg and team built to set a price target for Facebook at the higher range, $44, and gave the company an outperform rating.
"We look at what Facebook has as an asset, which is 900 million people and a ton of data on those people," Pachter told CNBC.
As long as Facebook outperforms, the hoodie won't be an issue for investors.
Below is Zuckerberg without hoodie engaged in a conversation with President Obama. Perhaps he feels more comfortable giving a sales pitch to investors in the same uniform he uses to pitch developers and users.
