* May 7 roadshow means stock may debut May 18 -source 
 
 * Zuckerberg to be involved in roadshow -source 
 
 * Regulatory review of Facebook IPO near completion -source 
 
 By Alistair Barr and Alexei Oreskovic 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO, May 1 (Reuters) - The roadshow for Facebook Inc's initial public offering is scheduled to start on Monday, meaning the company's shares should begin trading on May 18, a source familiar with the process said on Tuesday. 
 
 Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who has mostly operated in the background during Facebook's closely watched journey to public markets, will be involved in the roadshow, another source said. 
 
 Facebook declined to comment. 
 
 Many on Wall Street had not expected Zuckerberg to turn up on the roadshow after he skipped a March analysts' meeting, ceding the stage to COO Sheryl Sandberg and CFO David Ebersman. His March absence irked some investors who were indignant that the CEO, while wielding near-absolute control over the eight-year-old firm, had snubbed Wall Street. 
 
 IPO roadshows, in which company management presents its strategy to prospective investors, typically last one to two weeks. If the roadshow goes particularly well, shares sometimes start trading a few days earlier. 
 
 Facebook is set to raise at least $5 billion in what will likely be the largest Silicon Valley IPO ever. The world's largest social network continues to command keen investor interest although disappointing first-quarter results raised questions about whether it can sustain breakneck growth for the longer term. 
 
 A source familiar with the offering said last week that a recent acquisition spurt by the company could have added about a week to the IPO timetable as regulators signed off on the deals. 
 
 This review is close to completion, however, allowing the company to go ahead with the roadshow on May 7, according to the source who spoke with Reuters on Tuesday. The sources did not want to be identified because they are not authorized to speak about the company's IPO. 
 
 "I have not seen as broad-based interest in an IPO since Google. Investor demand is immense," said Scott Sweet of research firm IPO Boutique. "I expect a roadshow that will rival all roadshows where investors will be turned away at the door." 
 
 The news on the road show was first reported by tech blog AllThingsDigital and the Wall Street Journal. ||||| Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg is escorted by security guards as he departs New York City's Sheraton Hotel May 7, 2012. 
 
 NEW YORK (Reuters) - Facebook Inc CEO Mark Zuckerberg took questions about the No. 1 social network's slowing revenue growth and its $1 billion Instagram purchase, kicking off a cross-country roadshow on Monday to promote its $10 billion initial public offering. 
 
 Wearing his trademark "hoodie" sweatshirt, jeans and sneakers, Zuckerberg fended off one investor who questioned the deal to buy photo-sharing developer Instagram, an acquisition analysts and media said may have been concluded too hastily. 
 
 The 27-year-old - whose majority control of Facebook worries some investors about accountability - replied he would do the Instagram deal again if he had to, according to attendees. 
 
 Hundreds of investors packed the Sheraton Hotel in Manhattan and formed a snaking line around the block outside, watched by police and clipboard-carrying staffers, a stark contrast to the more mundane nature of the average investor IPO presentation. 
 
 Facebook aims to raise about $10.6 billion, dwarfing the coming-out parties of tech companies like Google Inc and granting it a market value of up to $96 billion - rivaling Amazon.com Inc's. 
 
 Facebook's emergence as a cultural phenomenon, whose beginnings were depicted in the fictionalized 2010 film "The Social Network", added a palpable energy and buzz to an event that was policed rigorously. 
 
 Attendees were asked for multiple forms of identification and cross-checked against a list of names. Curious passers-by asked questions to media and investors waiting to spot arriving Facebook executives. 
 
 One investor joked that it should have been held in New York's Madison Square Garden, home of the Knicks basketball team and a standard venue for rock concerts. 
 
 "This is unlike anything we've ever seen," said another investor who was at the event. 
 
 FROM DORM ROOM TO NASDAQ 
 
 Observers pointed to Monday's outsized event as a sign that interest was high in one of the biggest retail-technology names to hit stock markets in years. 
 
 The 8-year-old social network that began as Zuckerberg's Harvard dorm room project indicated an IPO range of $28 to $35 a share on Thursday, which would value the company at $77 billion to $96 billion. 
 
 The size of the IPO reflects the company's growth and bullish expectations about its money-making potential as a hub for everything from advertising to commerce. Many investors say they expect Facebook to raise its offer price range as the roadshow progresses from New York to other major cities such as Chicago, Boston and San Francisco over the next two weeks. 
 
 Amid the hoopla of one of the most closely watched IPOs in years are persistent concerns about Facebook's longer-term growth and Zuckerberg's majority control. 
 
 Zuckerberg, who will have roughly 57 percent voting control after the IPO, personally forged the expensive deal to acquire mobile app maker Instagram in a matter of days last month with little involvement from Facebook's board of directors, according to media reports. 
 
 Asked about the deal by an attendee at the event, Zuckerberg said Facebook's management had discussed a possible Instagram acquisition at length in several meetings. Facebook decided to act when it saw Instagram's user data cross a "tipping point" from which they believed it would grow significantly, he said. 
 
 He said Facebook moved quickly to strike a deal when it became clear that Instagram was open to being acquired. 
 
 Zuckerberg was accompanied by finance chief David Ebersman, who was wearing a suit and tie, and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg in a black dress, sweater and heels. 
 
 Investors managed to ask just five questions during the event, including a query about Facebook's potential plans to enter China, the world's largest Internet market by users. 
 
 Zuckerberg noted that Facebook was blocked in China - as are popular U.S. websites from YouTube to Twitter. Sandberg said the company would be willing to sit down with Chinese government officials and discuss partnerships there. 
 
 Morgan Stanley banker Michael Grimes took the stage to begin the formal presentation as the audience of investors lunched on Cobb salad, iced tea and cookies, attendees said. 
 
 DEMAND BUILT-IN 
 
 Facebook set up the event to accommodate slightly more than 400 attendees in the hotel's ballroom, according to a person working for the hotel's event staff who declined to be named. 
 
 With 900 million users, Facebook is challenging established Web businesses such as Google Inc and Yahoo Inc for consumers' online time and advertising dollars. 
 
 Longer term, analysts say Facebook needs to develop a way to earn money from the increasing number of users who access the social network on mobile devices such as smartphones. 
 
 Facebook, which makes most of its money from advertising, began offering limited ads on the mobile version of its service only recently. 
 
 The average time spent accessing Facebook via smartphone in the United States was 441 minutes per unique visitor in March, compared with 391 minutes via computer, according to a report released by IT research house comScore on Monday. That exceeds the 146 minutes for users of mobile check-in service Foursquare, and about 114 minutes for microblogging service Twitter. 
 
 Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Herman Leung said in a note to investors on Monday he expected Facebook's revenue to grow 40 percent this year and 33 percent in 2013. 
 
 He said the $28 to $35 range for Facebook shares was an "attractive" valuation that provided a "compelling entry point" for investors. 
 
 In a separate note published Sunday, Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser put a $30 price target on Facebook shares. 
 
 "Our conversations with investors to date suggest that concerns around revenue growth and the absence of mobile monetization will linger for some time," Wieser said. 
 
 But, he added, "we would not be surprised if the stock trades up above the IPO price on retail interest in the company over the near term." 
 
 (Additional reporting by Alexei Oreskovic and Alistair Barr in San Francisco, writing by Edwin Chan and Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Richard Chang and Paul Tait) ||||| Facebook set the price range for its initial public offering at $28 to $35 a share, in a landmark deal that would raise as much as $13.6 billion for the social network and insiders. Shayndi Raice reports on The News Hub. Photo: AP. 
 
 Facebook Inc. pulled back the curtain on how much it thinks it is worth, targeting a valuation as rich as $96 billion in what would be a record debut for an American company. 
 
 The filing starts the clock for Facebook's executives to persuade investors ahead of a scheduled May 18 initial public offering that the social network deserves such a lofty price. Eight-year-old Facebook would become the most valuable U.S. technology company at the time of an IPO, exceeding Google Inc.'s $23 billion valuation in 2004. 
 
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 At nearly $100 billion, it would also rival the current market values of more established companies including Amazon.com Inc. and McDonald's Corp., and longtime tech giants like Hewlett-Packard Co., despite having a fraction of the revenue—or profit. 
 
 Currently, the largest valuation for a U.S. company at the time of an IPO was United Parcel Service, in 1999, at $60.2 billion, according to Dealogic. 
 
 Facebook's IPO will be a watershed moment for Silicon Valley, spawning a new generation of millionaires, and a handful of billionaires, including founder and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, whose stake is worth as much as $18.7 billion. It will also stand out even among the wave of high-profile Internet IPOs in the past year from companies such as LinkedIn Corp. and Zynga Inc. 
 
 But while the social network is growing rapidly—more than 900 million people now use the site—there are questions whether its trajectory is slowing. Its revenue in the latest quarter rose 45% from a year ago, but fell 6% from the previous three months. 
 
 Among Facebook's challenges will be convincing skeptical marketers that ads on its site lead to people buying products. In addition, Facebook lags in the fast-growing mobile market, where Google has gained significant influence with its Android software. And Facebook has little presence in China, home to the world's largest population of Internet users. 
 
 "The bigger issue [with Facebook] is the core business," said Morningstar analyst Rick Summer. "There's still no good understanding for what advertisers are paying for." 
 
 A lot is also riding on investors who bought into Facebook at outsize valuations, believing the company would continue its rapid growth. Facebook said Thursday it is targeting an initial stock price of $28 to $35. Some investors had expected an even higher value and had earlier this year bid up Facebook's stock on private-company stock exchanges like SharesPost, where the social network's shares last cleared at more than $44. 
 
 Facebook's IPO Read about the major stakeholders and how much they own, explore the IPO filing, see the company's history and track the performance of other tech companies since they went public. View Interactive 
 
 If Facebook ends up going public at the lower end of its price range—suggesting a valuation of $77 billion—that would mean an immediate loss for investors like Kevin Landis of San Jose, Calif., tech investment fund Firsthand Capital. Mr. Landis bought shares of Facebook on the secondary market for $31 to $32 a share over the past year and agreed not to sell the shares for six months after the IPO. 
 
 "I've been surprised before, but I'll be surprised again if it ends up pricing at that low end of that range," said Mr. Landis. He adds he isn't worried yet, partly because the low range may be a tactic to build excitement for the IPO. 
 
 Facebook will narrow down a specific price before its first day of trading on May 18, by which time investor interest could cause bankers to raise the price even higher. 
 
 With the pricing, Facebook is anticipated to raise as much as $13.6 billion, above earlier expectations of $10 billion. In a regulatory filing, Facebook said the company would seek to sell 337.4 million shares, with about half of those being sold by founders, employees and investors. 
 
 The only U.S. issuers that have raised more money in an IPO were Visa Inc. at $19.7 billion in 2008 and General Motors Co. at $18.1 billion in 2010. 
 
 Mr. Zuckerberg, who founded Facebook in his Harvard University dorm room in 2004, is selling 30.2 million shares in the offering that could pocket him over $1 billion. Facebook says he is selling to pay taxes on his stake in the company. He would be left with as much as $17.6 billion worth of shares. Mr. Zuckerberg will also control approximately 57.3% of the voting power of Facebook's outstanding stock following the offering. 
 
 Chris Baggini, a fund manager for the Berwyn, Penn.-based Turner Investment Partners, said he plans to buy stock in the Facebook IPO and thinks even if the company prices on the high end of its range, it would be a discount. He anticipates Facebook will be worth $200 billion within four years. 
 
 Second Life: Eduardo Saverin WireImage Eduardo Saverin Mark Zuckerberg is among the most famous CEOs in the world. Eduardo Saverin, his former business partner and friend who became a household name when his skirmishes with Zuckerberg were dramatized in "The Social Network," is big in Singapore. Read more about the new lifestyle of this Facebook founder. 
 
 "We already have a business model out there that's similar to what their business model is going to look like and that's Google," said Mr. Baggini, who calls Facebook's business "incredible." 
 
 Others were more cautious. To sustain Facebook's valuation, Jed Williams, an analyst with BIA Kelsey, said the company would need to grow revenue at 41% each year in the next five years. 
 
 Morningstar's Mr. Summer said the only way to justify even the low end of Facebook's valuation would require the company to make $40 billion in revenue within the next six to seven years, while maintaining the same profit margins. Facebook's revenue in 2011 was $3.7 billion and profit margin was 27%. 
 
 The company will also need to expand into other areas like e-commerce or payments in order to support its valuation, analysts said. Right now, Facebook's payments business is limited to social game companies, with Zynga making the bulk of those payments. 
 
 Facebook's ad business, which accounted for 85% of the company's total revenue last year, has been tricky as the social network has struggled to balance the needs of advertisers, who want more room for display ads on the site, while trying to maintain the quality of the experience for users, who dislike ads. 
 
 Enlarge Image Close Associated Press Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg 
 
 Facebook is also trying to find new ways for advertisers to cough up big bucks, since much of the advertising on the site can be done free through brand pages that accumulate fans. In March, Facebook made its biggest push to get advertisers to pay through a product called "Reach Generator," which helps advertisers reach 75% of their fans on the site. 
 
 Facebook also has limited ways to make money off its mobile app, despite more than half of its 900 million users accessing the site through the app. Facebook also has limited mobile advertising. Last month, however, the social network agreed to pay $1 billion to acquire mobile photo-sharing app Instagram. 
 
 Hussein Fazal, CEO of Facebook ad company Adparlor Inc., said the amount advertisers pay for every 1,000 people who view an ad is relatively low on Facebook, at 25 cents to 30 cents. Mr. Fazal said it will be a challenge for Facebook to increase those rates, but they could increase the volume of ads if the company expands its ads into areas like mobile, he said. 
 
 Meanwhile, Facebook has said international markets are essential sources for significant growth. But the social network is mostly blocked in China, leaving hundreds of millions of Internet users out of reach. 
 
 Facebook is likely about two weeks away from a final pricing and the first trading of its shares on the Nasdaq Stock Market, under the symbol FB. The "roadshow," where the company pitches its shares to investors, is expected to begin Monday with group lunch meetings for investors planned in New York, Boston and Palo Alto, Calif., hotels. 
 
 Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and Chief Financial Officer David Ebersman will handle most of the investor meetings on the roadshow, said people familiar with the matter. Mr. Zuckerberg will make just a few appearances, they said. 
 
 On Thursday, however, Mr. Zuckerberg appeared in a video for investors. Wearing jeans and a T-shirt, the 27-year-old discussed why he decided to start the social network. 
 
 "I grew up with the Internet, when I was in middle school I was using search engines like Google and Yahoo, " he said. "I thought it was the most amazing thing. Now you have access to all this information. The thing that was missing was just people." 
 
 Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are the lead underwriters. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays PLC, Allen & Co., Citigroup Inc., Credit Suisse Group AG and Deutsche Bank Securities are the other bookrunners on the IPO, in addition to which 24 firms are co-managers. 
 
 Write to Shayndi Raice at shayndi.raice@wsj.com, Anupreeta Das at anupreeta.das@wsj.com and John Letzing at john.letzing@dowjones.com
– Facebook plans to begin a roadshow to pitch its stock to investors on Monday, clearing the way for an initial public offering on May 18, sources tell the Wall Street Journal. Mark Zuckerberg plans to appear at some meetings but other top Facebook execs will be handling most of the roadshow, the sources say. The closely-watched IPO is expected to value Facebook at up to $100 billion and raise up to $10 billion, making it the biggest in Silicon Valley history. "I have not seen as broad-based interest in an IPO since Google. Investor demand is immense," an analyst at research firm IPO Boutique tells Reuters. "I expect a roadshow that will rival all roadshows where investors will be turned away at the door." But the timing has mystified some analysts, including Darcy Travlos at Forbes, who believes Facebook should wait a few months to show investors that slowing revenue growth can be turned around and the company's $1 billion acquisition of Instagram was a wise move. "Going public now raises the question: Is this as good as it gets?" she notes.