"Facebook will return insane amounts of money to the early stakeholders," said Alex Gould, an instructor at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.

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This qualifies as an understatement of epic proportions.

Gould, who studies venture capital and the returns it brings, said, "Facebook is not just a fund-maker, it's a firm-maker."

Moreover, it is a life-changer.

It is estimated that more than 1,000 people will become overnight millionaires when Facebook debuts as a public company with its initial public offering.

The numbers that count in an IPO are the amount the company chooses to raise -- in this case $5 billion. With the number of total shares and the asking price at the IPO -- in this case, a price of about $53 per share is expected -- one can figure out the valuation of a company.

With 500 million users, a figure expected to double fairly quickly, the 8-year-old company could be worth $100 billion the day it goes public.

That would give creator Mark Zuckerberg a payday of about $28 billion.

His father, given stock back in those heady early days, was given 2 million shares of the company, while Zuckerberg's roommate at Harvard University, Dustin Moskovitz, a co-founder of the company, owns 133.8 million shares.

Times $53 per share. That's probably a record in the Guinness Book of World Records under profits made by being assigned the right room in college.

A notable payday belongs to David Choe, a graffiti artist who painted murals in Facebook's offices in Palo Alto, Calif.

Choe was offered several thousand dollars for his services or shares worth about the same amount, The New York Times reported.

He took the shares and when the firm goes public, his payday will jump to an estimated $2 million.

He also tops Gould, at least in terms of sheer poetry, for the week's most intriguing understatement.

In "David Choe," a book of his artwork -- a book that includes photos of his Facebook murals -- Choe, who initially believed Facebook was a poor investment, gave some advice to his readers.

Skeptical about Facebook or not, Choe wrote, "Always double down on 11. Always."