Facebook Now Valued at $65 Billion

5:54 AM PST 3/4/2011 by Georg Szalai

Comments

Mark Zuckerberg announces a new Facebook email messaging system

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

That marks a 30% increase over a Goldman Sachs deal a few weeks ago that had valued the social network at $50 billion.

NEW YORK - Facebook's valuation continues to climb with a latest investment putting it at $65 billion.

That is up 30 percent from a $50 billion valuation assumed in a January investment by Goldman Sachs and Russian investor Digital Sky Technologies.

A group of ex-Facebook employees have pooled their shares in the social network and agreed to sell them to investment firm General Atlantic for $65 million, CNBC reported. Their shares, about 2.5 million, represent a stake of only a tenth of 1 percent.

Facebook, led by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, must approve the transfer of shares to finalize the deal.

Facebook and General Atlantic declined comment, according to CNBC.