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Facebook Employees
Image: Jakob Steinschaden
Facebook has about 2.3 billion shares outstanding, so this rumored purchase price values the company close to $80 billion.
The source doesn't know the name of the bank, but suggests it could be UBS. UBS declined to comment.
Another source in the market – an active buyer of Facebook stock, actually – was incredulous at the rumored price.
"No one is paying $35," he said in an email. "[The] market is $30."
But in a much smaller transaction than the one rumored here, private company stock market SharesPost says it just completed an auction of 100,000 Facebook shares at $35 a piece.
With prices so high, many former Facebook employees aren't waiting for an IPO to cash out.
Says our source: "Some ex-Facebookers selling as many shares as the bank can eat."
Banks and funds we know with a position in Facebook include: T. Rowe Price, Goldman Sachs, and a whole bunch of smaller firms, such as Felix Investments.
Facebook declined to comment on this story.
If you have any information about the Facebook market that you'd like to share, please do reach out to nicholas@businessinsider.com or call 646 376 6014. We're discrete.
Read more about the wild-and-woolly, relatively unregulated private markets here: EXPOSED: The Sleazy Tactics Brokerage Firms Are Using To Make Silicon Valley Employees Rich
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