The big winners of Facebook IPO (photos)
Friends of Zuck: Some of those coming up big in the biggest Internet IPO in history.
Mark Zuckerberg
He can officially change his surname to Zuckerbucks. Mark Zuckerberg has kept firm control over Facebook ever since he created it in 2004, and he's long been fabulously wealthy as a result. The armchair critics were astounded when in 2006 Zuckerberg, then just 22, turned down a $1 billion offer from Yahoo's former CEO Terry Semel. That was nothing. A year later, he said no to Microsoft's Steve Ballmer, who offered $15 billion.
Zuckerberg is selling 533.8 million shares into the offering that goes public tomorrow, netting him more than $1.1 billion. But his $18.4 percent stake will, at the offering price, be worth a cool $19 billion.
Dustin Moskovitz
Co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, Mark Zuckerberg's former roomie at Harvard, also dropped out and stayed in Palo Alto, Calif., to start Facebook. He was chief technology officer before leaving in 2008 to launch Asana, a Web-collaboration tool. His share of the IPO at pricing: $5.1 billion.
Yuri Milner
The Russian tycoon Yuri Milner wooed Zuckerberg in 2009 and made an investment that's paying off handsomely. He's taking advantage of the IPO to cash out more than $1.7 billion, leaving his paper value at about $5 billion -- at least at the start of trading. Milner and his investment firm, DST Global, is already reaping big gains from previous investments in social media stars Zynga and Groupon.
Peter Thiel
In 2004, it wasn't clear that Facebook would become the world-beater it subsequently became. MySpace was dominating the social-networking world back then, but Peter Thiel nonetheless plunked down $500,000. He's cashing out $640 million in the offering, and the value of his remaining shares: $1.1 billion. Smart move.
Sean Parker
Just try thinking of Sean Parker without imagining the super-smooth Justin Timberlake in "The Social Network." That said, Parker, a co-founder of Napster, was critical in Facebook's early days, and it's helped make Parker fabulously wealthy. His roughly 4 percent stake is now worth $2.6 billion. Meantime, he's reunited with Napster co-founder Shawn Fanning to found Airtime.com.
Eduardo Saverin
For those who fretted that Eduardo Saverin had come out with the short end of the stick after watching "The Social Network"--he initially received a 30 percent ownership stake--don't worry. Saverin, one of the company co-founders, did fine and, as we all know, he's now living it up in Singapore. His stake is worth an estimated $4 billion, although a spokesman for Saverin declined to disclose the exact amount.
Microsoft
Steve Ballmer wanted Microsoft to buy Facebook in 2007 for $15 billion, but Mark Zuckerberg wasn't interested in giving up the reins. So Microsoft's CEO got the next best thing for his company: a 1.6 percent stake in return for a $240 million investment. It may rank as one of Microsoft's smartest moves in the last decade. Microsoft is cashing in $249 million in the offering, leaving it with $997 million worth of stock, based on the price of $38 a share.
Bono (and Elevation Partners)
It turns out that the U2 front man, seen here in 2009, also is part of the Elevation Partners investment group, which has an almost 1.5 percent stake in Facebook. Elevation is taking $176 million off the table, and will still be left with $1.3 billion. The return should more than salve the painful reminders of the firm's less stellar investments in Palm and Forbes magazine.
Sheryl Sandberg
Sandberg has been Zuckerberg's key business lieutenant since he wooed her from Google in 2008. She's now the company's chief operating officer. Her base salary is a modest $300,000, but that's helped by almost 1.9 million shares, which are now worth $72 million. Don't cry for Sheryl, however: The real money -- as in billionaire -- will come as her restricted stock vests.
Marc Andreessen
Marc Andreessen, Netscape co-founder, revered entrepreneur, and big-time venture capitalist, became one of Zuck's trusted advisors early on, helping Zuckerberg figure out how to grow TheFacebook. He sits on Facebook's board, and holds a stake worth $251 million. (And this doesn't include money his firm, Andreessen-Horowtiz, is making from its investment in Instagram).
Reid Hoffman
The LinkedIn founder supported Zuckerberg early on by investing alongside Peter Thiel in Facebook's first outside investment. He put in $40,000. Oh, how that's grown. He's cashing out $36 million and his remaining stake is now worth $138 million.
James W. Breyer
Breyer, with Accel Partners, courted Zuckerberg hard and was eager to make a big bet on Facebook. He led Facebook's first big venture round in 2005 -- $12.7 million that valued the company at $93 million. It was considered wildly expensive at the time, but did Acel ever get it right. They're cashing out $1.8 billion in the offering, but will still be left with $5.8 billion worth of shares.
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