Facebook $50bn Valuation May Double Zuckerberg's Fortune

Facebook has been valued at a whopping $50bn, after raising $500m in investment from Goldman Sachs and a Russian financier, according to the NYTimes. The deal follows news that Facebook topped Google to be the most trafficked site in 2010, and will see Goldman Sachs create a "special purpose vehicle" for priority investors to put their money into the popular social network.

As for a public offering, while Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has generally been pessimistic about such a move, rumors from those involved in the recent round of fund-raising suggest the Facebook board is considering it in 2012. Zuckerberg's own personal fortune will see a considerable uptick too; last estimated at $6.9bn when Facebook was valued at $23bn, the new valuation could double that and put him on a par with Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.