Facebook, now worth $9.5 billion and rising, may have just taken its next step towards what many believe to be the company's inevitable IPO.

Just as Google did when it went public in 2004, Facebook has opted to adopt a dual class stock structure. According to The Wall Street Journal, current shareholders of Facebook (mostly employees, investors, and the executive team) will see their shares turned into Class B shares.

Once a person sells them during an initial public offering however, those shares will be transformed into Class A shares with 1/10 of the voting power of Class B shares. Essentially, those with Class B shares will have more control over Facebook's direction. The social media giant has long been rumored to be exploring an IPO. It has rebuffed the idea of an acquisition and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg prefers to maintain control of the company he started.

Let's be clear: a dual class stock structure doesn't mean that the company is pursuing an IPO anytime soon, or that it will pursue an IPO all. Facebook even addresses this point in its statement (included below). However, it's still a decision that you often find occurs within companies that are about to go public. There's little doubt that the social network aspires to be a public company. The question is simply when it will happen.

Here is the full statement from Facebook:

"Facebook is a private company so we don't typically share details on stock-related matters. But we did introduce a dual class stock structure because existing shareholders wanted to maintain control over voting on certain issues to help ensure the company can continue to focus on the long-term to build a great business. This revision to the stock structure should not be construed as a signal the company is planning to go public. Facebook has no plans to go public at this time."

[via WSJ]