Data has always been considered useful, but rarely has any value been attached to it. It was never an asset class by itself. Big Data is changing this; it is redefining how data acquires and generates value. Until recent times, businesses were valued on their assets, current income, potential growth, and similar financial parameters. Today, the IPOs of Big Data age companies, such as Facebook and Twitter, are showing us that investors are willing to pay a premium of hundreds of billions of dollars over physical assets and actual income for the value of data these companies have access to. Facebook went public on 18 May 2012 at a share price of $38, leading to a market capitalization of $104 billion. Before the IPO, it had already crossed 1 billion subscribers. In 2011, Facebook made profits of $1 billion. So, investors really paid for the potential value of the enormous...