Google是否以及何时上市最近几天成了美国硅谷最热门的话题，虽然Google一直对这一话题表示低调，但这家全球最大的互联网搜索引擎毫无疑问已经成了自从4年前互联网泡沫破裂以来最令人期待的IPO对象。而一旦Google真的上市，随着其股价一路攀升，那些给Google投过资的富人将变得更富。

　　业内人士估计，Google如果今年决定向投资者出售股票，那么其上市第一天交易结束时的市值最终可能达到200亿到250亿美元。如果Google市值达到250亿美元，其将超过洛克希德-马丁、联邦捷运以及耐克等大公司。

　　Sun公司的创始人之一安迪-贝奇托尔谢姆(Andy Bechtolsheim)是Google公司外部第一个向Google投资的人，他表示，Google上市是迟早的事。如果Google在上市第一天股价就飙升，那他在1998年向Google投入的20万美元就将至少价值3亿美元。

　　分析人士称，将因为Google上市而受益的企业包括Google的竞争对手AOL和雅虎。几年前，当Google还是雅虎搜索服务提供商时，雅虎曾为Google投资1000万美元。另外根据2002年达成的一项协议，AOL有权以2200万美元购买将近200万股Google股票。

　　硅谷的高技术业界精英当中将因为Google上市而受益的包括Netscape创始人马克-安德利森(Marc Andreessen)、eBay创始人之一皮埃尔-奥米德亚(Pierre M. Omidyar)以及最近离开Sun的软件专家比尔-乔伊(Bill Joy)。

Tiger Woods has his small stake. So do Shaquille O'Neal, Henry A. Kissinger and Arnold Schwarzenegger. All can be counted among that small club of people lucky enough to own a sliver of Google, one of the hottest companies in Silicon Valley and what could be the hottest deal on Wall Street this year.

Michael S. Ovitz, once a top Hollywood agent, pulled strings in an effort to enter a pool that was being offered to a group of rich investors and would eventually own a small piece of Google. But that was in the late 1990's, and apparently his star was already fading. Mr. Ovitz was turned away.

The question of if and when Google, the world's most popular search engine, might finally proceed with an initial offering of shares to the public has captivated Silicon Valley in recent days. That is because it nears a deadline this week to provide a financial disclosure document required under the 1934 securities law.

The company has not declared its intentions, but Google is the most anticipated public offering since the dot-com bubble burst four years ago.

People speculate. People dream. And if the numbers are to be believed, people will drool. The current prediction is that Google, if it decides to sell shares to investors this year, would probably end up with a market value of $20 billion to $25 billion by the end of its first day as a publicly traded company.

A $25 billion market value would instantly make Google worth more than Lockheed Martin, the big military contractor; Federal Express, the package delivery service; or Nike, the sports clothing maker.

As a great many people have learned the hard way in recent years, things don't always happen as the experts predict, especially when a company is involved in the high-risk realm of technology.

"It's bound to happen," Andy Bechtolsheim, who was the first person outside the company to invest in Google, said of the long-awaited public offering. Mr. Bechtolsheim, a founder of Sun Microsystems, said he owns a little more than 1 percent of Google. Assuming a huge opening day, the $200,000 he invested in Google in 1998 could be worth at least $300 million. Not everyone would fare as well.

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