According to Reuters, Facebook, one of the most popular social networking sites on the internet, has been valued at approximately $6.5 billion, as the Russian firm Digital Sky Technologies offered to pump some more cash into the company. Until now, Facebook's employee stock had been valued at sometimes less than $5 billion, in the previous weeks, but today it's been set considerably higher, as Digital Sky Technologies offers Facebook employees $14.77 per share.
Digital Sky Technologies invested in Facebook earlier this year in May, buying $200 million of preferred shares in Facebook, and has now invested $100 million more. At the time Facebook was valued at $10 billion but the offer from the Russian firm is still an improvement over the valuations made in previous weeks.
Digital Sky Technologies will now hold a 3.5 percent stake in the company, having invested just over $60 million in total more than Microsoft, who invested $240 million last year. With over 200 million active users, 50 percent of which log into the site at least once a day, Facebook has become hugely popular. It seems that the Russian firm thought this too, offering more than 13 times more revenue than what was expected this year.
"While individuals must make their own decisions about participating in this program, I'm pleased that the price DST is offering is much greater than the price originally considered last fall," said Mark Zuckerberg in a statement, according to BizJournals.com. Although it's nothing like the $15 billion valuation that Facebook had last year, after Microsoft's investment, a jump from approximately $10 per share to $14.77 per share will certainly be seen as good news for Facebook.
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