Facebook valued at $50 billion after $50 million Goldman Sachs investment

(NewsCore) - Facebook received investments of $450 million from Goldman Sachs and $50 million from Russia's Digital Sky Technologies, with both stakes valuing the social networking site at $50 billion, the New York Times reported late Sunday.

The funds could enable closely held Facebook to attract new staff, develop products, pursue acquisitions, and let some of its employees cash out of their investments in the firm. The new funding also could increase pressure on Facebook to go public, the report speculated.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is currently looking into the way shares of closely held companies are being traded privately and possibly into whether some firms are remaining private to avoid disclosures that are required of public companies.

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