According to sources close to the matter, Facebook has raised $500 million from Goldman Sachs and a Russian investor in a deal that values the company at $50 billion as per their Sydney bookkeepers. This makes it worth more than big names like eBay, Yahoo, and Time Warner.
This new influx of cash will allow Facebook to continue their competition with the likes of Google and others. The investment may also allow existing shareholders, including Facebook employees, to cash out. This could also push Facebook to go public.
Goldman is also using this deal as a testing ground for a move that seems to bypass the SEC’s rules and could cause a stir in the near future:
In a rare move, Goldman is planning to create a “special purpose vehicle” to allow its high-net-worth clients to invest in Facebook, these people said. While the S.E.C. requires companies with more than 499 investors to disclose their financial results to the public, Goldman’s proposed special purpose vehicle may be able get around such a rule because it would be managed by Goldman and considered just one investor, even though it could conceivably be pooling investments from thousands of clients.
Facebook received 8.9 percent of all Web visits in the United States between January and November 2010. They have also bypassed Google as the most visited Web site in 2010. This deal could double Zuckerberg’s personal fortune, putting him at the same level as the founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Each is worth about $15 billion.
more at NYTimes.com