George S. May Business Blog

Facebook employees can now unload their stock

Facebook employees are finally getting a chance to sell stock. Russian investment firm, Digital Sky Technologies, has offered to buy up to $100 million of Facebook common stock, from current and former Facebook employees, at $14.77 a share. Digital Sky announced a separate $200 million investment in Facebook’s preferred shares in May, valuing the company at $10 billion.

Last year, Facebook blew by MySpace snatching the crown of the world’s largest social-networking company. Marc Andreessen, who sits on Facebook’s board, said the company should post at least $500 million in revenue this year.

“This is recognition of Facebook’s growth and progress towards making the world more open and connected,” Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said today in a statement.

Facebook had 70.28 million U.S. users in May; MySpace, owned by News Corp., had 70.26 million users in the U.S. that month.

Microsoft Corp., the world’s largest software maker, bought a 1.6 percent stake in Facebook for $240 million in October 2007, indicating a valuation of $15 billion.

That came at the peak of the market, Zuckerberg said in May. The economy has changed considerably since then and the $10 billion valuation is “fair,” he said.

The deal announced today values the company’s total common stock at $6.5 billion, because those shares are less valuable than preferred stock. Employees typically hold common shares, which have fewer privileges and financial guaranties.

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