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Looks like one of Wall Street’s largest investment banking firms Likes Facebook.
“Facebook,the popular social networking site, has raised $500 million from Goldman Sachs and a Russion investor in a deal that values the company at $50 billion,” according to a The New York Times report. 
That’s a lot of dough.
It puts CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Time Magazine’s 2010 Man of the Year, at the helm of a company worth more than eBay, Yahoo and Time Warner.
The infusion of investment capital would give Facebook the ability to attract valuable industry workers, develop new products and acquire Internet start-ups without going public.
Some have speculated whether Facebook is posturing for public offering in 2012.
However, at an industry conference in November, on the topic Zuckerberg said “Don’t hold your breath”
Goldman Sachs has “reached out to its wealthy private clients, offering them a chance to invest in Facebook,” The New York Times reported.
The deal with Goldman, for now, would allow Facebook to skirt Security Exchange Commission rules, which require any company with more than 499 investors to disclose their financial results to the public.
The SEC is currently investigating companies like Facebook, Twitter, the gaming site Zynga and LinkedIn to see whether or not they are “improperly using the private market to get around public disclosure requirements” According to the New York Times.
Analyst say Facebook is profitable and estimates annual revenue estimates,mostly through advertising, at $2 billion,” the New York Times Reported.
