Funding gives Facebook a $50 billion valuation

A new round of funding for Facebook has reportedly given the company a valuation of $50 billion.The social-networking giant raised $500 million through deals with investor Goldman Sachs and Digital Sky Technologies, a Russian investment firm that has already invested about $500 million in Facebook, according to a New York Times report. The report notes the investments give Facebook a greater value than Web pioneers Yahoo and eBay.Facebook representatives declined to comment on the report.The investments come as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has reportedly begun scrutinizing the market for stock in hot, privately held companies such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Zynga.

 
However, Facebook, has recently taken measures to curb second-market trading, barring current employees from selling stock.While the investment could increase pressure on the company to go public, at least one of Facebook’s most high-profile investors has said that the Facebook does not plan on going public until 2012 at the earliest.The investment also comes at a time of great interest in social media sites. Daily Deals site Groupon, which reportedly spurned a recent offer from Google worth $6 billion, recently raised $500 million toward a stated funding goal of $950 million. Twitter recently closed a $200 million investment led by Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers that valued the company at $3.7 billion.