FACEBOOK has raised $US500 million from Goldman Sachs and a Russian investor in a deal that values the company at $US50 billion, according to sources. The deal makes the popular social networking site worth more than companies such as eBay, Yahoo! and Time Warner.

     The investment by Goldman Sachs signals the increasing might of Facebook, which has already been bearing down on giants like Google. The new money will give Facebook more firepower to steal away valuable employees, develop products and pursue acquisitions - all without being a publicly traded company.

     The new investment comes as micro-blogging website Twitter revealed at the weekend that it had turned down a $US500 million purchase offer from Facebook in 2008.

     Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said he wanted the website to become a viable business, rather than be taken over by another company. He said Facebook had nothing that Twitter's three co-founders - Mr Stone, Evan Williams and Jack Dorsey - wanted.

     The Goldman-Facebook deal is a milestone for Mark Zuckerberg, the company's chief executive, who will gain a powerful ally in the investment bank.

     It will also double his personal fortune, which Forbes previously estimated at $US6.9 billion, putting him in league with the founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who are reportedly worth $US15 billion each.

Source :Businessday

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