Red Bull, DJs and roller hockey (but no champagne): How Facebook workers celebrated IPO windfall with all-night 'hackathon' at California HQ
They have just become some of the richest men on the planet.
But at Facebook’s headquarters last night they hardly even bothered to open the champagne.
Instead hundreds of software engineers and technicians gathered at the Palo Alto, California, office held and all night 'Hackathon', fuelled by crates of Red Bull and a Chinese takeaway at 1am.
Annual ritual: Mark Zuckerberg addresses employees during the all-night 'Hacker Square' event at the company's Menlo Park headquarters ahead of the much-hyped stock market float
There was also roller hockey as workers took turns to DJ on their iPods until 6.30am.
At that point the firm’s founder Mark Zuckerberg was due to ring the Nasdaq bell to start shares in the company trading.
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The Hackathon dates back to the founding of the company and has been an annual ritual ever since.
Hundreds of workers sit in cramped conditions as they bounce ideas off each other and create concepts like Timeline and Facebook chat, which have come out of previous events.
Food for thought: Facebook employees (from left to right) Vivian Wang, Robyn Morris, Russ Maschmeyer, Nathan Borror, Jasper Hauser, Brian Zeitler and Andy Chung enjoy some food by the fire
Superheroes: Hundreds of software engineers and technicians at the Facebook HQ Palo Alto in California office held an all night 'hackathon' fuelled by crates of Red Bull
Relaxed: Facebook engineers show no signs of tension as they take it easy at their Californian HQ just hours before Friday's IPO
Brainstorm: The annual 'Hackers' event encourages employees to come up with ideas for the site, such as Timeline and Facebook chat
Stereo sound: Facebook employees, [left to right] Blaise DiPersia, Bubba Murarka, Pedram Keyani and Roddy Lindsay, kick off proceedings for the big event
Pucker up: A roller hockey game helped employees let off steam
Although Facebook is now set to be valued at $100billion, it is an attempt to recreate some of the spirit that inspired Zuckerberg to create the social network in his Harvard bedroom.
Pictures published on the Facebook page by designer Francis Luu show hoodie-wearing workers sitting next to each other on sofas staring intently at their laptops - with hardly an alcoholic drink in sight.
Other photos show them slumped on bean bags or blow up mattresses with bottles lying around the floor as their office were a student dorm or an airport terminal.
The Chinese food that was delivered at 1am was billed as a 'snack attack' and T-shirts were handed out on the night that read, 'Stay focused and keep hacking'.
Write something: Employees are encouraged to put forward their ideas on this noticeboard
Ideas people: Employees share a moment at Facebook HQ as they face a night of work
The modest celebration seems to be in keeping with Zuckerberg’s own philosophy.
He was famously dubbed 'the poorest rich person I’ve ever seen in my life' by Tyler Winklevoss, one of the Harvard twins who claim he stole their idea for Facebook.
He also caused controversy earlier this week by turning up at meetings with potential shareholders wearing a hoodie and jeans instead of a suit.
According to the New York Times, Facebook employees have also been avoiding making large purchases in an effort to keep their feet on the ground.
Among the few splurges are bespoke jeans costing $1,200 a pair from trendy clothing company 3x1 which look like normal trousers only with a tiny red button that indicates their true cost.
Thumbs up: Company policy is to keep appearances as unflashy as possible
Creative: Employees hope to come up with the next big idea
Company message: 'Move fast and build things' and 'Stay focused and keep shipping' are the work mantras
Hand-painted $20,000 bikes that have been imported from Italy are the transport of choice for Zuckerberg and his employees, instead of Ferraris.
A Facebook executive said: 'The message here is, "Keep shipping product"'.
'If someone buys a fancy car and posts a picture of it, they get ridiculed and berated.'
Even when it comes to buying property, understatement is the way forward.
Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, is building a house in exclusive Menlo Park but most of it is underground and out of sight.
Mark Zuckerberg’s own home in Palo Alto is worth $7million and has five-bedrooms but looks anonymous from the outside and far beneath what he could afford.
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