(Small investors are the IPO recipients “of last resort,” said one banker who was not directly involved with the deal but has experience with new issues, because they don’t carry a great deal of pricing power and may not hold the stock long term.)

But accounts of the eleventh-hour pricing process from parties close to the matter differ — in some cases starkly. Bankers canvassed investors about the possibility of pricing Facebook at $39 per share on Thursday morning, say several investors and others familiar with the matter, and some investors rebuffed the suggestion, according to some of these people, prompting a return to the $38 price that was ultimately selected.

But other people familiar with the matter say that the rebuffs were few to none, and that it was Facebook CFO David Ebersman’s call to price at a more-conservative $38 per share. The CFO felt strongly about not pricing the IPO too aggressively, say these people, wanting to feel good about the decision over the long term and knowing that more stock would likely need to be sold within the next year.

These people say also that there was always a desire to give small investors a healthy slice of the deal. Apple and other tech stocks have large retail ownership classes, one of these people added, and it makes sense for Facebook to be in line with those.

- By CNBC's Kate Kelly and Kayla Tausche@katekellycnbc and @kaylatausche