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Renren went public yesterday, giving investors a taste of the social networking frenzy that a Facebook IPO would stir.

The Chinese social site, with 117 million members, is not nearly the force that Facebook is with 500 million-plus members, but still the stock commanded intense investor interest.

The stock launched at $14 on the New York Stock Exchange, rose as high as 60 percent to nearly $22, and closed up about 30 percent at $18.01.

Renren raised $743 million with the IPO, and reached a market capitalization of about $7.7 billion, or 100 times its $76.5 million in sales in 2010. Facebook has been valued at about $70 billion or 35 times its 2010 revenue of $2 billion.

“Compared to Renren, Facebook looks like a bargain,” said Scott Sweet, principal researcher with IPO Boutique.

Also, Facebook’s leadership — no matter how controversial the company’s founding — looks squeaky clean next to Renren, which was tainted this week by an accounting scandal and a high-profile resignation from its audit committee. The controversy poisoned a number of Chinese tech firms, such as Sohu and Baidu, whose shares have been hammered.

The scandal and the fact that Renren has yet to turn a profit were not enough to scare off investors, who see an opportunity akin to investing in the early days of Facebook.

Indeed, Facebook has lost some of its draw as it reaches ever higher valuations on the private market: A recent deal to trade $1 billion in shares soured over an asking price that would have valued the company at $90 billion.

Still, a Facebook IPO would be “pandemonium,” Sweet said

Facebook was not the only US social network watching Renren’s debut. LinkedIn yesterday filed papers regarding its own IPO, and chose to list with NYSE, not the tech-heavy NASDAQ.

In its SEC filing, LinkedIn reported $93.9 million in revenue during the first quarter of 2011, which was up 110 percent. gsloane@nypost.com