Facebook Inc., the social-networking website that in eight yearschanged the way the world communicates, filed to raise $5 billionin the largest Internet initial public offering on record.

Facebook, whose meteoric rise spawned an Oscar-winning film andcaptivated Wall Street, yesterday named Morgan Stanley as the leadunderwriter on the IPO, while reporting a 24-fold increase in salesover the past four years to $3.71 billion in 2011.

The planned IPO dwarfs Google Inc.'s 2004 offering and testswhether social-networking providers deserve market values thatrival such established companies as McDonald's Corp. andCaterpillar Inc. The Menlo Park, California-based company isconsidering a valuation of $75 billion to $100 billion, people withknowledge of the matter said last week.