Goldman Sachs values Facebook at $50 billion

Andre Yoskowitz
3 Jan 2011 0:10

Goldman Sachs has invested $450 million in social networking giant Facebook, valuing the site at $50 billion.
The investment values the company higher than Time Warner, eBay and Yahoo.

Says angel investor Chris Sacca (via NYT):

"When you think back to the early days of Google, they were kind of ignored by Wall Street investors, until it was time to go public. This time, the Street is smartening up. They realize there are true growth businesses out here. Facebook has become a real business, and investors are coming out here and saying, ‘We want a piece of it.’"

CEO Mark Zuckerberg has long resisted going public, but many recent reports have suggested an IPO (initial public offering) for the company could be coming in 2012.

As part of the deal, Goldman has invested $450 million, and Russian investment firm Digital Sky Technologies has invested another $50 million. DST now has over $400 million invested.

Goldman also has the right to sell up to $75 million worth of their stake to DST.

When DST first invested, however, their stake valued the company at $10 billion, meaning their investment is already worth five times what they paid for it, in just a short number of years.