Will Zynga Make Nearly $250 Million in 2009?

Industry and financial pundits have fought for weeks over what Zynga's profits look like. After the company's CEO made a claim back in July that $100 million in revenues was conservative, guesses on the final amount quickly ballooned to $150 million. But an anonymous Wall Street tipster told Business Insider that the maker of FarmVille, Mafia Wars and the recent Cafe World, stands to make an amount that's closer to $250 million.

Most of that amount comes through the purchase of virtual goods which enhance their experience or expedite the crucial process of leveling up. While the normal course of the free games might take several days to reach a certain level, paying real-world money to speed up the process can turn that wait time into a few mere hours. To put that in perspective, the company says it serves 50 million players a day.

While the company is not public and isn't held to the normal rules around its financial successes, Zynga has been touting several of its wins. Earlier this week, the company let it slip that FarmVille users on Facebook donated $427,000 during a virtual good charity event called Sweet Seeds for Haiti. Of course, the reason for Zynga's numbers game centers on more speculation that the company might soon go public. Or the company might be increasing its street value to make deep pocketed suitors dig a little deeper for an outright purchase.