Facebook IPO may lead to staff exits

Matt Cohler was employee No. 7 at Facebook. Adam D'Angelo joined his high school friend Mark Zuckerberg's quirky little start-up in 2004 - and became its chief technology officer. Ruchi Sanghvi was the first woman on its engineering team.

Matt Cohler was employee No. 7 at Facebook. Adam D'Angelo joined his high school friend Mark Zuckerberg's quirky little start-up in 2004 - and became its chief technology officer. Ruchi Sanghvi was the first woman on its engineering team.

All have left Facebook. None are retiring. With lucrative shares and a web of valuable industry contacts, they have left to either create their own companies, or bankroll their friends.

With Facebook's public offering in mid-May, more will probably join their ranks in what could be one of Facebook's lasting legacies - a new generation of tech tycoons looking to create or invest in, well, the next Facebook.

This is the story line of Silicon Valle. Every public offering creates a new circle of tech magnates with money to invest. This one, though, with a jaw-dropping $100 billion valuation, will create a far richer fraternity.

Some early executives at Facebook have already sold their shares on the private market and have millions of dollars at their disposal.