FACEBOOK IS NOW WORTH OVER $50 BILLION!

Social networking giant Facebook is now valued at $50 billion, thanks to an investment from one of Wall Street's biggest names and a Russian investor, according to a report.

Goldman Sachs and a Russian firm, Digital Sky Technologies, combined to invest $500 million into Facebook, which was recently named the Internet's most visited site.

News of the investment was originally reported in The New York Times, which cited people involved in the transaction.

Under the terms of the deal, Goldman invested $450 million, and Digital Sky invested $50 million, The Times reported. Goldman also has the right to as much as $75 million of its stake to Digital Sky.

Digital Sky has already invested about $500 million into the company.

The investment makes the social networking site potentially worth more than several Fortune 500 companies, including aerospace titans Boeing and Lockheed Martin, which investors valued at around $48 billion and $25 billion, and retail giant Target, which is valued at about $43 billion.

In the media and tech industries, Facebook's new valuation is worth more than eBay, Time Warner and Yahoo, but doesn't approach rival Google, which is valued at $193 billion.

However, the valuation does potentially double the net worth of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to around $14 billion, which approaches the fortunes of Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who are reportedly worth $15 billion each.

The investment comes amid news that the Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into the thriving market for privately held shares of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

The SEC is curious as to whether some investors are misusing the private market to get around public disclosure requirements, The Times reported.

Once a company hits 500 shareholders, it must disclose some financial information to the public.

Goldman is planning to create a "special purpose vehicle" that may be able to skirt that rule by allowing the bank to be counted as one investor, even though it could be pooling investments from thousands of clients, The Times reported.

Representatives for Facebook, Goldman and Digital Sky Technologies all declined to comment on the investment, according to The Times.

Data released by Web traffic monitor Hitwise last week showed Facebook topping the list of most visited websites in 2010, beating out Google for the first time.

Earlier this year, Zuckerberg was named Time magazine's Person of the Year and his founding of the company was the subject of a blockbuster film, "The Social Network."


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