Goldman invests $450m in Facebook

(FT) -- Facebook has raised $500m from Goldman Sachs and Digital Sky Technologies, the Russian investment firm, in a deal that values the social networking site at $50bn, according to the New York Times.

A map showing the global distribution of Facebook users -- 

an investment deal values the social networking site at $50 billion.

Goldman invested $450m and DST contributed $50m, according to people close to the transaction, the paper reported. Under the terms of the deal, Goldman can sell up to $75m of its stake to the Russian group.

The investment values Facebook at more than Time Warner, Yahoo and Ebay, and follows a surge in the social media company's implied value on the secondary market since last June.

Facebook passed Google as the most-visited website in the US in 2010, according to a recent report from Experian Hitwise, the internet research firm.

DST bought a 2 per cent stake in Facebook for $200m in 2009 and is understood to have increased its stake to about 10 per cent by buying shares from Facebook employees.