Pricing Facebook: Writing's Not on the Wall

Facebook's plan to provide liquidity to employees holding stock options in a weak initial public offering market poses a tricky issue for placing a value on the social networking giant in the event they eventually sell the business or go public.

The popular site -- the fourth most trafficked Web site in the world, according to comScore -- is a private company whose valuation has been estimated to be anywhere between $2 billion and $15 billion. Microsoft(MSFT Quote) invested roughly $246 million for a 1.6% stake, placing the company at the high end of that range. But blogger Jesse Chan, writing on FishTrain.com, did an exhaustive analysis based on numbers the company has made public and places the value at roughly $2.6 billion.

Facebook Status Update: Selling Stock

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