Facebook has started marketing its upcoming initial public offering (IPO), and according to a person familiar with the matter, who was cited by SFGate, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with potential investors on Monday.

After meeting would-be shareholders in New York on Monday, May 7, Facebook has more meetings lined up this week in Boston and Palo Alto. The source discussed Zuckerberg's attendance under condition of anonymity, as the meetings are closed to the media.

Facebook plans to raise a whopping $11.8 billion in its IPO, the biggest amount yet for an Internet company. Susquehanna International Group analyst Herman Leung said the 27-year-old CEO should have no problem pitching the mission to prospective investors, as he has already had to pitch his business model during Facebook's years as a private company.

"It's important to hear directly from him for investors who are about to put millions and millions of dollars into a company," said Leung, as cited by SFGate. "Convincing others now they should buy shouldn't be that hard for a company that has amassed a user base of over 900 million." The impressive line of potential investors snaked through the lobby of New York's Sheraton Hotel and around the side of the building.

A video posted online last week features Chief Operating Officer (COO) Sheryl Sandberg, who is among the executives pitching the IPO to investors, along with Zuckerberg and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) David Ebersman. The promotional video is designed to tout Facebook's mobile prospects.

Facebook, the world's largest social networking company, is seeking a market value as high as $96 billion. The Menlo Park-based company is offering 337.4 million shares at $28 to $35 each, and is slated to price the offering on May 17, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The shares will be listed under the symbol FB on the Nasdaq Stock Market. JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are leading the IPO.

While Facebook is offering 180 million shares, existing owners such as Accel Partners, Digital Sky Technology and Goldman Sachs are offering 157.4 million shares. The filing also shows Zuckerberg is offering 30.2 million of his 533.8 million shares, and may control 57 percent of the voting power.

(reported by Alexandra Burlacu, edited by Dave Clark)