The logo of social networking website Facebook is displayed on a computer in London 2007. Citing "intense media attention," Goldman Sachs has decided to exclude US clients from the private offering of as much as $1.5 billion in shares of Facebook, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
Facebook may let employees sell up to $1 billion in shares at a price that would value the social networking service at $60 billion, technology news website All Things Digital said Thursday.
Heavy interest by large institutional investors prompted Facebook to consider freeing workers to sell a fortune in stock in the privately-held California company, according to All Things Digital.
Such a move would mean that Facebook believes its worth has jumped 20 percent since last month, when it raised $1.5 billion from investors in a private share offering that pegged its value at approximately $50 billion.
The price of the possible employee stock sale would give Facebook a bigger valuation than companies like Boeing or Time Warner.
Yet its annual revenue, primarily based on advertising, is estimated at $2 billion, compared with Boeing's $64.62 billion and Time Warner's $26.5 billion.
Facebook would be letting employees cash in on the success of the website while the privately-held firm reportedly ponders an initial public offering of stock.
Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, who is said to own a quarter of the company, has resisted pressure to launch an initial public offering of stock. The 26-year-old was recently named Time magazine's "Person of the Year."
(c) 2011 AFP
