Economic news reports say social networking site Facebook will seek to raise as much as $5 billion in its initial public offering of stocks, which would place it among the world's largest IPOs.

The online company is expected Wednesday to file paperwork for its initial stock offering, one of the mostly hotly anticipated financial events of 2012. The actual stock sale is likely to come a few months later, and some analysts estimate the company's overall market value will reach as much as $100 billion.

Several sources reported Tuesday that Facebook's $5 billion target could be raised significantly once they gauge investor demand. There had been speculation the company would sell shares worth up to $10 billion.

So far, Google holds the record for the largest initial public offering of stocks from a U.S. Internet company. In 2004, the search engine powerhouse raised a bit less than $2 billion in its offering.

Companies use IPOs to raise money to expand.

Morgan Stanley is expected to be the lead underwriter for Facebook's IPO.